Men's Basketball Returns Home Tuesday For Bulls Jam
1/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Buffalo (9-12, 3-5 MAC) vs. Central Michigan (14-7, 4-4 MAC)
January 31, 2017
Alumni Arena - 7:00 pm
Radio - ESPN 1520-AM WWKB
Television - ESPN3
The Opening Tip...
• The Bulls return to Alumni Arena on Tuesday night as they welcome the Central Michigan Chippewas to Alumni Arena. CMU boasts the nation's leading scorer in Marcus Keene, who is averaging 30.3 points per game. The Chippewas are the fourth highest scoring offense in the country at 89.7 points per game. The Bulls enter the contest looking to snap a two-game losing streak, both coming on one-point road losses last week.
• Senior Blake Hamilton is coming off a 33-point performance on Saturday night against Akron, his second 30-point game of the year. He becomes the first UB player to have multiple 30-point games in the same season since 2014-15 when Justin Moss achieved the feat during his MAC Player of the Year season.
• While Central Michigan has used the same starting lineup for all 21 games this season, it has been a rotating cast for the Bulls who used their 10th different starting lineup on Saturday night at Akron. In all, 10 different UB players have started at least one game for UB and nobody has started more than 18 games. Sophomore CJ Massinburg has started eight straight games, which is the longest current streak among UB players.
The Opponent
• Central Michigan will bring one of the most dynamic offenses in the nation to Alumni Arena on Tuesday night and a 14-7 record and 4-4 MAC mark following a 105-98 win in overtime at Kent State on Saturday. After dropping their first three MAC games, the Chippewas have now won four of their last five, including three in a row.
• Central Michigan boasts the nation's leading scorer, who is averaging 30.3 points per game, looking to become the first D-I player to average 30 points for a season in over two decades. Keene had 41 points in the overtime win at Kent State, including 11 points in overtime alone. He had a national season high for points on Jan. 21 against Miami when Keene scored 50 points against the RedHawks, including a stretch where he scored 26 straight points for CMU. He has take 437 shots, 209 three-pointers, while also getting to the free throw line 180 times. Keene also leads the team with 109 assists.
• The Chippewas also have Braylon Rayson, a standout from a season ago, that is averaging 20.0 points per game as he is shooting .371 from the floor and .821 from the free throw line. David DiLeo is averaging 10.1 points to round out the double-figure scorers.
• Keno Davis was named head coach at Central Michigan on April 3, 2012. Davis brought four years of Division I head coaching experience, and in 2008 was named the coach of the year by six national organizations. In one season at Drake and three at Providence, Davis compiled a 74-55 (.574) record and made two postseason appearances.
Bulls Jam In Store For Tuesday Night Home Game
The Bulls will open the spring semester at UB with a home game against the Central Michigan Chippewas on Tuesday night. Buffalo will be holding Bulls Jam as a promotion to get the student body involved for the game. Here are some promotions for the game:
• Free UB True Blue Squad Tank Tops to the first 700 students (courtesy of UB Campus Living)
• Free Wings for students (while supplies last)
• UB Students check-into the UB Rewards App for a chance to win a Mini Basketball Hoop and a copy of the movie Space Jam
Starting tomorrow – UB CAMPUS LIVING FREE TUITION GIVE-AWAY
• For every game attended by UB Undergrad students they will receive one free entry to win tuition for the fall 2017 semester.
• Receive an entry for every remaining men's and women's basketball games
• Winner will be announced during the Men's game on Friday, March 3rd.
• Winner must be present to win.
• Students just need to show ID and have it scanned upon entering the game to be eligible.
Seeing Double
Sophomore CJ Massinburg became the third different UB player to record a double-double on the season Saturday when he had a season-high 18 points and a career-best 10 rebounds in the win over Eastern Michigan. It was the first career double-double for the Dallas, TX native. Massinburg joins Blake Hamilton who had 19 points and 11 rebounds against Canisius and sophomore Nick Perkins, who has recorded a pair of double-doubles, including 18 points and 10 rebounds against Weber State and 10 points and 11 rebounds against Robert Morris. Last season, UB had three players all year record double-doubles, led by five from Hamilton.
Against Ohio, Massinburg recorded his second straight double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Hamilton also had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. It is the first time this year that UB has had two players with a double-double in the same match and also the first time this season that a Buffalo player recorded a double-double in consecutive games. Senior David Kadiri joined the double-double party against Ball State as he recorded career highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Hamilton and Perkins each picked up their third double-double of the season against Western Michigan as Perkins had 21 points and 10 boards of the bench and Hamilton, who just missed out on the second triple-double in school history, had 15 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. The four different players with double-doubles are the most in a season since 2014-15 when Justin Moss, Xavier Ford, Shannon Evans, and Rodell Wigginton all recorded double-doubles thats year.
We're Going Streaking
Following UB's latest victory over Kent State, the Bulls have now beaten the Golden Flashes seven straight times, including the last four at Kent State. UB is also currently riding an 11-game winning streak against Northern Illinois, with UB's last loss against the Huskies coming in 2005-06. Right now, UB has two of the eight longest winning streaks against one conference school in the MAC:
17 Akron vs. Bowling Green
14 Kent State vs. Ball State
13 Akron vs. Ball State
11 Buffalo vs. Northern Illinois
8 Toledo vs. Miami (OH)
7 Buffalo vs. Kent State
7 Ohio vs. Ball State
3-Peat After Me
The Bulls are looking to do something that no Mid-American Conference school has ever accomplished and that is win three straight MAC Tournament titles. Buffalo has already become the first team since Kent State to go in back-to-back seasons when the Golden Flashes did it in 2001 and 2002, but a third straight trip would make conference history. No Big 4 school has gone to three straight NCAA Tournament since Canisius in 1955-57.
Buffalo is one of only five programs to have won conference titles in both 2014-15 and 2015-16 joining Hampton (MEAC), Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley), Kentucky (SEC), and Gonzaga (WCC). Of that group, Gonzaga is the only one to have received three straight automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament.
Easy Blake Oven
Senior Blake Hamilton begins his final season after being one of five players named to the All-MAC East Division squad in the preseason. Hamilton was named to the All-MAC Third Team last season and enters 2016-17 as the Bulls returning leading scorer and rebounder at 13.7 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per contest. Hamilton had a stellar first season with UB in 2015-16, but it will be his shot at the end of the MAC Championship game that will always be remembered by Bulls fans.
Hamilton missed most of the preseason due to a broken non-shooting hand, but he returned to the starting lineup for the regular season opener at Niagara where he had 11 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in 26 minutes of action. Hamilton recorded a career-high 11 assists in the win over Nazareth, the most by a UB player so far this season. He then showed his scoring touch in the opener of the Great Alaska Shootout with a career-high 36 points against Alaska-Anchorage, including 29 of those in the second half. The 36 points are tied for 10th in school history for a single game and the most since current teammate CJ Massinburg had 36 last season against Ohio. The 36 points are also tied for eighth most in a single game in the 38-year history of the Great Alaska Shootout. Hamilton added 23 points and eight rebounds in the win over Weber State and he led all scorers in the Great Alaska Shootout field. Hamilton added 21 points against Creighton and 20 points at St. Bonaventure and he scored over 20 points in four of the six games on the previous road trip. Hamilton had his first double-double of the season against Canisius as he finished with 19 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. He led the Bulls in scoring for the sixth time and had his fifth 20-point game against Robert Morris on Dec. 21. Hamilton put up 21 points against Eastern Michigan. He had 17 points, a season-high 13 rebounds, and six assists against Ohio. He added 14 points and nine boards against Ball State. Hamilton just missed out on the first triple-double of his career as he had 15 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds against Western Michigan. He recorded his second 30-point game of the season at Akron, scoring 33 points on 13-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-4 from behind the arc. He becomes the first UB player with multiple 30-point games in one season since Justin Moss accomplished it in 2014-15.
Free Willie
Senior Willie Conner was named the MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player and was also named to the newly created All-Defensive team following his junior season. Conner also transferred in after playing his freshman season at Florida A&M and his sophomore year at Odessa Community College. In addition to his defensive prowess, Conner was also a dynamic three-point shooter for the Bulls as he hit 48 of them last year, including six in the MAC Quarterfinal win over Miami (OH), scoring 25 points.
Off the floor, Conner continues to be one of the top team leaders for the Bulls and he has been UB's team representative for its relationship with Team IMPACT, a non-profit organization that helps children forget about their illness and become part of something bigger, a team of friends.
Conner was one of the most productive players for the Bulls in the season-opener as he led the Bulls with 20 points, including four three-pointers. His four point play late in the second half clinched the game for Buffalo. In the Great Alaska Shootout opener, Conner had 12 points ans five assists, but it was his strong defense that helped shutdown Alaska-Anchorage's top player as Sekou Wiggs went just 3-of-18 from the field. Conner added 21 points against Creighton, the second time this year he hit the 20-point mark, and the first since the season opener. It has been five straight games where Conner has been given the defensive assignment of the opposing teams top player. On Saturday, he held St. Bonaventure's leading scorer Matt Mobley to just nine points, the first time this season Mobley failed to enter double figures.
Conner regained his scoring touch in the win over Coppin State as he tied his career-high with 28 points in the victory, hitting a career-high eight three pointers, tied for the third most in school history.
David Is Goliath
Senior David Kadiri is coming off the best game of his UB career on Saturday against Ball State as he finished with career highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds as he shot 11-of-13 from the floor. Kadiri is one of four UB players with double figures in blocks as he is second on the team with 16 blocked shots.
Nick of Time
Another sophomore that had an outstanding first season for the Bulls was Nick Perkins, who continued to improve during each game of the 2015-16 season, culminating in his season-high 20 points in the NCAA Tournament game against Miami (OH). Perkins became the first ever UB player to score 20 points in an NCAA Tournament game and most of that was thanks to his career-high four three pointers in the contest.
In the exhibition win over Daemen, Perkins had 25 points, including eight of those coming in the overtime period. Seven of those points came in a row, capped off on a dunk in which he was fouled and completed the four-point play. He had 11 points and eight rebounds in the opener at Niagara. Perkins led the Bulls with 15 points and seven rebounds against nationally-ranked Xavier. He recorded 21 points in the win over Nazareth, adding eight rebounds and a career-best four blocked shots. Perkins recorded his first career double-double, and the first by a UB player this season, on Saturday night with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Weber State. Perkins established a new career high in scoring on Saturday afternoon at St. Bonaventure with 24 points, going 10-of-15 from the floor and tying his career high with four three pointers. Perkins followed that up with 23 points at ACC foe Pittsburgh, going 11-of-18 from the floor. The 11 field goals for Perkins were a career high. Perkins had his second double-double of the year against Robert Morris as he finished with 10 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Perkins led the Bulls with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Western Michigan. Perkins added 20 points against Miami, the second straight game that he recorded 20 points off the bench.
Mass Production
It was a successful first year for sophomore CJ Massinburg, who was named to the All-Freshman team following his first year in the Blue and White. Massinburg proved early that he belonged, scoring a team-high 25 points in the exhibition contest against Daemen a year ago. His best game came against Ohio in February where he recorded 36 points vs. the Bobcats, the highest point total by a Buffalo player last year. His 396 points scored last year were the second most ever scored in a season by a UB freshman.
Massinburg made his regular season debut on Dec. 7 at Pittsburgh after missing the first eight games of the season due to mononucleosis. He made the most in hist return with 14 points, three rebounds, and five assists in 25 minutes off the bench. Massinburg rejoined the starting lineup for the first time this year and had 15 points and three assists in 22 minutes. Massinburg logged the most minutes of his career in the overtime loss to Canisius as he played 42 minutes, finishing with 16 points and five assists. He added 15 points coming off the bench in the win over Maine. Massinburg recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Eastern Michigan. He followed it up with his second straight double-double as he had 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against Ohio. Massinburg led the Bulls with 22 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in the win over Kent State.
Familiar Faces
The Bulls have three players on this year's team, who all played against each other during the 2014-15 Junior College year in NCJAA Region 5. Senior Willie Conner played at Odessa Community College, while fellow senior David Kadiri spent the year at South Plains Community College. The newest addition is redshirt sophomore Dontay Caruthers, who played his freshman year at Midland College, where he played under current UB assistant coach Bryan Hodgson. Kadiri had the best season of the bunch as he helped lead his squad to a national runner up finish. He had 13 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots in that national championship game.
Air Jordan
The Bulls have brought in an impressive freshmen class this year, including the services of point guard Davonta Jordan out of Cocoa, FL. He was the ninth best player in the state of Florida and the 30th best point guard nationally. Jordan played at Montverde Academy, which has produced a number of NBA Draft Lottery picks, including the first overall pick in this past year's draft Ben Simmons, and previous picks D'Angelo Russell (2nd Overall) and Joel Embiid (3rd Overall).
Jordan started the season-opener for the Bulls and he was impressive, finishing with six points and seven assists in 23 minutes. The seven assists were the most in a season-opener by a UB player since Alexi Vasiliev had 10 against the Purple Eagles on Nov. 19, 1999. Jordan had a team-high six assists off the bench in the win over Alaska-Anchorage. Jordan tied his career high with seven assists on Friday night against Nevada, recording six of those in the first half. Jordan recorded a new career high with 10 assists against Creighton, becoming the first UB freshman with 10 assists in a game since Lamonte Bearden did it against Cornell on Jan. 3, 2015. Jordan re-entered the starting lineup against St. Bonaventure and recorded career highs in points (9) and rebounds (6), while adding seven assists.
Dontay's Peak
Another newcomer that made a solid debut was redshirt sophomore Dontay Caruthers who had four points, three rebounds, and a team-high three steals, including a crucial one in the final 40 seconds of play. Caruthers picked up his first career start against Nazareth and also started in the Great Alaska Shootout opener against Alaska-Anchorage. He recorded a career-best seven points against Nevada, including his first career three-pointer. Caruthers had a huge defensive performance against Maine, as he was credited with drawing four charges. He recorded a career high with 11 points as he started in UB's road win over Kent State. Caruthers also was solid on the defensive end as he became the first Buffalo player this season to record five steals in a game. Caruthers had five steals for the second straight game against Western Michigan and he leads the Bulls with 36 steals on the year. In fact, he has recorded more steals in the last two games (10), than all but two other players on the team have all season. The 10 steals by Caruthers in back-to-back games against Kent State and Western Michigan were the most in a two-game period by a UB player since Byron Mulkey had 13 in the first two games of the 2010-11 season.
Here's Johnny
Sophomore Nikola Rackicevic, known affectionately by his teammates as Johnny, played in 20 games during his freshman season, scoring a career-high 14 points against Delaware. Rackicevic has been one of the bigger surprises for the Bulls, shooting the ball extremely well both over the summer on the foreign trip to the Bahamas, but also in the early part of this preseason. He has appeared in seven games this year, having his best game of the year against Maine with five points off the bench.
This season, Rackicevic changed his number to #42 in honor of his mother, who passed away unexpectedly during his freshman season. He had his best game of the season with eight points and four rebounds against Ohio, including a buzzer-beating fast-break layup prior to the halftime buzzer. He tied his career high with 14 points off the bench in UB's win over Kent State, while adding three rebounds and two assists.
Bahama Mama
This summer the Bulls went on a foreign trip to Toronto and the Bahamas, getting 10 extra practice in over the summer and playing in four games. UB began the trip with an 84-76 win of the University of Guelph and then defeated York University, 87-69, before moving down to the Bahamas where they played two more games.
Buffalo defeated the College of Bahamas 81-67 before ending the trip with a 113-73 win over the Real Deal Shockers. All of the Bulls saw action during the foreign trip except for Davonta Jordan, who was a late addition to the squad this summer.
NCAA programs are allowed to take a foreign trip once every four years.
For The Record
Buffalo had one of its best three-point shooting days in school history on Dec. 10 in its 87-52 win over Coppin State at Alumni Arena. The Bulls went 15-of-30 from behind the arc with six different players hitting at least one three pointer. The 15 triples are the second most in school history in one game and the most since Buffalo had 14 last season in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament against Ohio. The only time UB had more than 15 threes in a game was back on Feb. 22, 1996 when it had 18 against Troy State.
Individually, senior Willie Conner hit a career-best eight three points, which is tied for third most in a single game in school history and the most since Shannon Evans had eight against Cornell on Jan. 3, 2015. Second place belongs to hall of famer Mike Martinho, who had 10 three pointers in that record-breaking game against Troy State. Eric Moore holds the school record of 11 set in 2007 against Bowling Green.
For The Record...Part Deux
The Bulls had quite the historical evening during their home-opening victory against Nazareth. In the 85-38 win, UB allowed its fewest points in a game since Feb. 1, 1979 against Fredonia State. The Bulls also allowed 47 points fewer in the win over Nazareth than they did three days earlier at Xavier. The 47-point margin between two games is Buffalo's largest since the 1987-88 season when they allowed 125 points to St. Anselm in the season-opener and followed that up by allowing just 67 points in the next game against Queens College.
Bulls Sign Three To National Letters Of Intent
Head men's basketball coach Nate Oats has announced that three players have signed national letters of intent to play at Buffalo during the 2017-18 season during the early signing period:
Jayvon Graves (6-3, PG, Akron, OH)
Jeremy Harris (6-7, Wing, Greensboro, NC/Gulf Coast College)
James Reese (64, SG, Columbia, SC)
The Bulls will open the spring semester at UB with a home game against the Central Michigan Chippewas on Tuesday night. Buffalo will be holding Bulls Jam as a promotion to get the student body involved for the game.
Tuesday night's game is a rematch of the 2015 MAC Championship game, but just six players combined from the two teams played in the contest, including just one for the Bulls in senior Raheem Johnson.
Seeing Double
Sophomore CJ Massinburg became the third different UB player to record a double-double on the season Saturday when he had a season-high 18 points and a career-best 10 rebounds in the win over Eastern Michigan. It was the first career double-double for the Dallas, TX native. Massinburg joins Blake Hamilton who had 19 points and 11 rebounds against Canisius and sophomore Nick Perkins, who has recorded a pair of double-doubles, including 18 points and 10 rebounds against Weber State and 10 points and 11 rebounds against Robert Morris. Last season, UB had three players all year record double-doubles, led by five from Hamilton.
Against Ohio, Massinburg recorded his second straight double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Hamilton also had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. It is the first time this year that UB has had two players with a double-double in the same match and also the first time this season that a Buffalo player recorded a double-double in consecutive games. Senior David Kadiri joined the double-double party against Ball State as he recorded career highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Hamilton and Perkins each picked up their third double-double of the season against Western Michigan as Perkins had 21 points and 10 boards of the bench and Hamilton, who just missed out on the second triple-double in school history, had 15 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. The four different players with double-doubles are the most in a season since 2014-15 when Justin Moss, Xavier Ford, Shannon Evans, and Rodell Wigginton all recorded double-doubles thats year.
We're Going Streaking
Following UB's latest victory over Kent State, the Bulls have now beaten the Golden Flashes seven straight times, including the last four at Kent State. UB is also currently riding an 11-game winning streak against Northern Illinois, with UB's last loss against the Huskies coming in 2005-06. Right now, UB has two of the eight longest winning streaks against one conference school in the MAC:
17 Akron vs. Bowling Green
14 Kent State vs. Ball State
13 Akron vs. Ball State
11 Buffalo vs. Northern Illinois
8 Toledo vs. Miami (OH)
7 Buffalo vs. Kent State
7 Ohio vs. Ball State
3-Peat After Me
The Bulls are looking to do something that no Mid-American Conference school has ever accomplished and that is win three straight MAC Tournament titles. Buffalo has already become the first team since Kent State to go in back-to-back seasons when the Golden Flashes did it in 2001 and 2002, but a third straight trip would make conference history. No Big 4 school has gone to three straight NCAA Tournament since Canisius in 1955-57.
Buffalo is one of only five programs to have won conference titles in both 2014-15 and 2015-16 joining Hampton (MEAC), Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley), Kentucky (SEC), and Gonzaga (WCC). Of that group, Gonzaga is the only one to have received three straight automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament.
Easy Blake Oven
Senior Blake Hamilton begins his final season after being one of five players named to the All-MAC East Division squad in the preseason. Hamilton was named to the All-MAC Third Team last season and enters 2016-17 as the Bulls returning leading scorer and rebounder at 13.7 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per contest. Hamilton had a stellar first season with UB in 2015-16, but it will be his shot at the end of the MAC Championship game that will always be remembered by Bulls fans.
Hamilton missed most of the preseason due to a broken non-shooting hand, but he returned to the starting lineup for the regular season opener at Niagara where he had 11 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in 26 minutes of action. Hamilton recorded a career-high 11 assists in the win over Nazareth, the most by a UB player so far this season. He then showed his scoring touch in the opener of the Great Alaska Shootout with a career-high 36 points against Alaska-Anchorage, including 29 of those in the second half. The 36 points are tied for 10th in school history for a single game and the most since current teammate CJ Massinburg had 36 last season against Ohio. The 36 points are also tied for eighth most in a single game in the 38-year history of the Great Alaska Shootout. Hamilton added 23 points and eight rebounds in the win over Weber State and he led all scorers in the Great Alaska Shootout field. Hamilton added 21 points against Creighton and 20 points at St. Bonaventure and he scored over 20 points in four of the six games on the previous road trip. Hamilton had his first double-double of the season against Canisius as he finished with 19 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. He led the Bulls in scoring for the sixth time and had his fifth 20-point game against Robert Morris on Dec. 21. Hamilton put up 21 points against Eastern Michigan. He had 17 points, a season-high 13 rebounds, and six assists against Ohio. He added 14 points and nine boards against Ball State. Hamilton just missed out on the first triple-double of his career as he had 15 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds against Western Michigan. He recorded his second 30-point game of the season at Akron, scoring 33 points on 13-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-4 from behind the arc. He becomes the first UB player with multiple 30-point games in one season since Justin Moss accomplished it in 2014-15.
Free Willie
Senior Willie Conner was named the MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player and was also named to the newly created All-Defensive team following his junior season. Conner also transferred in after playing his freshman season at Florida A&M and his sophomore year at Odessa Community College. In addition to his defensive prowess, Conner was also a dynamic three-point shooter for the Bulls as he hit 48 of them last year, including six in the MAC Quarterfinal win over Miami (OH), scoring 25 points.
Off the floor, Conner continues to be one of the top team leaders for the Bulls and he has been UB's team representative for its relationship with Team IMPACT, a non-profit organization that helps children forget about their illness and become part of something bigger, a team of friends.
Conner was one of the most productive players for the Bulls in the season-opener as he led the Bulls with 20 points, including four three-pointers. His four point play late in the second half clinched the game for Buffalo. In the Great Alaska Shootout opener, Conner had 12 points ans five assists, but it was his strong defense that helped shutdown Alaska-Anchorage's top player as Sekou Wiggs went just 3-of-18 from the field. Conner added 21 points against Creighton, the second time this year he hit the 20-point mark, and the first since the season opener. It has been five straight games where Conner has been given the defensive assignment of the opposing teams top player. On Saturday, he held St. Bonaventure's leading scorer Matt Mobley to just nine points, the first time this season Mobley failed to enter double figures.
Conner regained his scoring touch in the win over Coppin State as he tied his career-high with 28 points in the victory, hitting a career-high eight three pointers, tied for the third most in school history.
David Is Goliath
Senior David Kadiri is coming off the best game of his UB career on Saturday against Ball State as he finished with career highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds as he shot 11-of-13 from the floor. Kadiri is one of four UB players with double figures in blocks as he is second on the team with 16 blocked shots.
Nick of Time
Another sophomore that had an outstanding first season for the Bulls was Nick Perkins, who continued to improve during each game of the 2015-16 season, culminating in his season-high 20 points in the NCAA Tournament game against Miami (OH). Perkins became the first ever UB player to score 20 points in an NCAA Tournament game and most of that was thanks to his career-high four three pointers in the contest.
In the exhibition win over Daemen, Perkins had 25 points, including eight of those coming in the overtime period. Seven of those points came in a row, capped off on a dunk in which he was fouled and completed the four-point play. He had 11 points and eight rebounds in the opener at Niagara. Perkins led the Bulls with 15 points and seven rebounds against nationally-ranked Xavier. He recorded 21 points in the win over Nazareth, adding eight rebounds and a career-best four blocked shots. Perkins recorded his first career double-double, and the first by a UB player this season, on Saturday night with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Weber State. Perkins established a new career high in scoring on Saturday afternoon at St. Bonaventure with 24 points, going 10-of-15 from the floor and tying his career high with four three pointers. Perkins followed that up with 23 points at ACC foe Pittsburgh, going 11-of-18 from the floor. The 11 field goals for Perkins were a career high. Perkins had his second double-double of the year against Robert Morris as he finished with 10 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Perkins led the Bulls with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Western Michigan. Perkins added 20 points against Miami, the second straight game that he recorded 20 points off the bench.
Mass Production
It was a successful first year for sophomore CJ Massinburg, who was named to the All-Freshman team following his first year in the Blue and White. Massinburg proved early that he belonged, scoring a team-high 25 points in the exhibition contest against Daemen a year ago. His best game came against Ohio in February where he recorded 36 points vs. the Bobcats, the highest point total by a Buffalo player last year. His 396 points scored last year were the second most ever scored in a season by a UB freshman.
Massinburg made his regular season debut on Dec. 7 at Pittsburgh after missing the first eight games of the season due to mononucleosis. He made the most in hist return with 14 points, three rebounds, and five assists in 25 minutes off the bench. Massinburg rejoined the starting lineup for the first time this year and had 15 points and three assists in 22 minutes. Massinburg logged the most minutes of his career in the overtime loss to Canisius as he played 42 minutes, finishing with 16 points and five assists. He added 15 points coming off the bench in the win over Maine. Massinburg recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Eastern Michigan. He followed it up with his second straight double-double as he had 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against Ohio. Massinburg led the Bulls with 22 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in the win over Kent State.
Familiar Faces
The Bulls have three players on this year's team, who all played against each other during the 2014-15 Junior College year in NCJAA Region 5. Senior Willie Conner played at Odessa Community College, while fellow senior David Kadiri spent the year at South Plains Community College. The newest addition is redshirt sophomore Dontay Caruthers, who played his freshman year at Midland College, where he played under current UB assistant coach Bryan Hodgson. Kadiri had the best season of the bunch as he helped lead his squad to a national runner up finish. He had 13 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots in that national championship game.
Air Jordan
The Bulls have brought in an impressive freshmen class this year, including the services of point guard Davonta Jordan out of Cocoa, FL. He was the ninth best player in the state of Florida and the 30th best point guard nationally. Jordan played at Montverde Academy, which has produced a number of NBA Draft Lottery picks, including the first overall pick in this past year's draft Ben Simmons, and previous picks D'Angelo Russell (2nd Overall) and Joel Embiid (3rd Overall).
Jordan started the season-opener for the Bulls and he was impressive, finishing with six points and seven assists in 23 minutes. The seven assists were the most in a season-opener by a UB player since Alexi Vasiliev had 10 against the Purple Eagles on Nov. 19, 1999. Jordan had a team-high six assists off the bench in the win over Alaska-Anchorage. Jordan tied his career high with seven assists on Friday night against Nevada, recording six of those in the first half. Jordan recorded a new career high with 10 assists against Creighton, becoming the first UB freshman with 10 assists in a game since Lamonte Bearden did it against Cornell on Jan. 3, 2015. Jordan re-entered the starting lineup against St. Bonaventure and recorded career highs in points (9) and rebounds (6), while adding seven assists.
Dontay's Peak
Another newcomer that made a solid debut was redshirt sophomore Dontay Caruthers who had four points, three rebounds, and a team-high three steals, including a crucial one in the final 40 seconds of play. Caruthers picked up his first career start against Nazareth and also started in the Great Alaska Shootout opener against Alaska-Anchorage. He recorded a career-best seven points against Nevada, including his first career three-pointer. Caruthers had a huge defensive performance against Maine, as he was credited with drawing four charges. He recorded a career high with 11 points as he started in UB's road win over Kent State. Caruthers also was solid on the defensive end as he became the first Buffalo player this season to record five steals in a game. Caruthers had five steals for the second straight game against Western Michigan and he leads the Bulls with 36 steals on the year. In fact, he has recorded more steals in the last two games (10), than all but two other players on the team have all season. The 10 steals by Caruthers in back-to-back games against Kent State and Western Michigan were the most in a two-game period by a UB player since Byron Mulkey had 13 in the first two games of the 2010-11 season.
Here's Johnny
Sophomore Nikola Rackicevic, known affectionately by his teammates as Johnny, played in 20 games during his freshman season, scoring a career-high 14 points against Delaware. Rackicevic has been one of the bigger surprises for the Bulls, shooting the ball extremely well both over the summer on the foreign trip to the Bahamas, but also in the early part of this preseason. He has appeared in seven games this year, having his best game of the year against Maine with five points off the bench.
This season, Rackicevic changed his number to #42 in honor of his mother, who passed away unexpectedly during his freshman season. He had his best game of the season with eight points and four rebounds against Ohio, including a buzzer-beating fast-break layup prior to the halftime buzzer. He tied his career high with 14 points off the bench in UB's win over Kent State, while adding three rebounds and two assists.
Bahama Mama
This summer the Bulls went on a foreign trip to Toronto and the Bahamas, getting 10 extra practice in over the summer and playing in four games. UB began the trip with an 84-76 win of the University of Guelph and then defeated York University, 87-69, before moving down to the Bahamas where they played two more games.
Buffalo defeated the College of Bahamas 81-67 before ending the trip with a 113-73 win over the Real Deal Shockers. All of the Bulls saw action during the foreign trip except for Davonta Jordan, who was a late addition to the squad this summer.
NCAA programs are allowed to take a foreign trip once every four years.
For The Record
Buffalo had one of its best three-point shooting days in school history on Dec. 10 in its 87-52 win over Coppin State at Alumni Arena. The Bulls went 15-of-30 from behind the arc with six different players hitting at least one three pointer. The 15 triples are the second most in school history in one game and the most since Buffalo had 14 last season in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament against Ohio. The only time UB had more than 15 threes in a game was back on Feb. 22, 1996 when it had 18 against Troy State.
Individually, senior Willie Conner hit a career-best eight three points, which is tied for third most in a single game in school history and the most since Shannon Evans had eight against Cornell on Jan. 3, 2015. Second place belongs to hall of famer Mike Martinho, who had 10 three pointers in that record-breaking game against Troy State. Eric Moore holds the school record of 11 set in 2007 against Bowling Green.
For The Record...Part Deux
The Bulls had quite the historical evening during their home-opening victory against Nazareth. In the 85-38 win, UB allowed its fewest points in a game since Feb. 1, 1979 against Fredonia State. The Bulls also allowed 47 points fewer in the win over Nazareth than they did three days earlier at Xavier. The 47-point margin between two games is Buffalo's largest since the 1987-88 season when they allowed 125 points to St. Anselm in the season-opener and followed that up by allowing just 67 points in the next game against Queens College.
Bulls Sign Three To National Letters Of Intent
Head men's basketball coach Nate Oats has announced that three players have signed national letters of intent to play at Buffalo during the 2017-18 season during the early signing period:
Jayvon Graves (6-3, PG, Akron, OH)
Jeremy Harris (6-7, Wing, Greensboro, NC/Gulf Coast College)
James Reese (64, SG, Columbia, SC)
