Bulls Head North Wednesday Night For Big 4 Clash At Niagara

Buffalo (3-2, 0-0 MAC) at Niagara (3-4, 0-0 MAAC)
November 29, 2017
Gallagher Center - 7:00 pm

Bulls on the Air

Radio - ESPN 1520-AM WWKB/TuneIn App

Television - LCTV

Quick Hits

• The Bulls will play their first true road game of the season on Wednesday night when the Bulls will head up to Niagara for a Big 4 clash. This will be the second straight year that the Bulls will play at Niagara as they opened their season there last year.

• Having opened the season with an 80-75 win over Canisius, the Bulls are looking to pick up their second Big 4 win of the season. UB has not won two games against Big 4 opponents in the same year since 2014-15.

• Wednesday will mark the 89th career meeting between the Bulls and Niagara, its longest series against any opponent in school history. While Niagara leads the all-time series 56-32, the Bulls have won 11 of the last 14 meetings between the two schools.

• Sophomore Davonta Jordan has 56 points this season through five games and seven three-pointers. Last year, Jordan had just two made threes all season and he didn't register his 56th point until 13 games into the season.

• Junior CJ Massinburg was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Cayman Classic after he averaged 18.3 points per game. Massinburg scored 29 points against 12th-ranked Cincinnati as the Bulls nearly pulled off the upset of the Bearcats. He added 16 points in the win over UAB and has scored in double figures in four straight games.

• The Bulls have had a 20-point scorer in four of their first five games this season and those four performances came from three different players. Junior Nick Perkins scored 26 against Canisius and then CJ Massinburg scored 25 against Jacksonville State and 29 against Cincinnati. Junior Dontay Caruthers had a career-high 22 points against UAB.

• Juniors CJ Massinburg and Nick Perkins were named to the preseason All-MAC East Division Team, claiming two of the five spots.

The Opponent

• Niagara is 3-4 on the season following a 77-71 win over Army on Monday night. The Purple Eagles are currently on a stretch on playing four home games in a six-day period, which will conclude with the Bulls on Wednesday night. Niagara opened the year with a big 77-75 win at St. Bonaventure and havep layed close games at Minnesota and BYU.

• The Purple Eagles feature one of the top scoring duos in the country in Matt Scott and Kahlil Dukes, who are averaging a combined 45.1 points per game. Scott is averaging 25.1 points per game and 7.3 rebounds, while Dukes is averaging an even 20.0 a game. They are the only two on the team averaging double figures, but Marvin Prochet is averaging 7.1 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game.

• Niagara was picked fifth in the preseason poll with a total of 76 points. The Purple Eagles' fifth place selection is their highest since being tabbed fifth in the 2012-13 season; NU went on to win the regular season.

• Chris Casey, who arrived with 27 years of coaching experience at the Division I, II and III levels, was named the 21st head coach of the Niagara University men's basketball program on April 22, 2013. Casey had successful stints as a Division I assistant coach at St. John's, Central Connecticut State and Saint Peter's, and as a Division II head coach at LIU Post and a Division III head coach at Rutgers-Newark. Casey is a 1986 graduate of Western Connecticut State University. He was a four-year letterwinner at Western Connecticut State, including a two-time captain.

Bulls Picked To Win MAC East

The University at Buffalo men's basketball team has been picked to win the Mid-American Conference East Division and received nine tournament championship votes, second most in the league, it was announced by the league office in their annual preseason poll voted on by a panel of all 12 MAC head coaches and 18 media members.

The Bulls, who are led by third-year head coach Nate Oats, received 166 points and 24 of the 30 first place votes in the East Division to finish atop the preseason poll. This is the second time that Buffalo has been picked as the preseason winner of the MAC East and the first time since prior to the 2004-05 season. Buffalo also received nine votes to win the 2018 MAC Tournament Championship, just one behind Western Michigan.

Perkins and Massinburg Earn Preseason Nod

Juniors Nick Perkins and CJ Massinburg were two of the five players named to the preseason All-MAC East Division squad.

Massinburg was named All-MAC Honorable Mention last year as he averaged 14.5 points and 5.6 rebounds a year ago. He is Buffalo's returning leading scorer and despite missing eight games during non-conference play last year, he is in striking distance of 1,000 career points in just his third season with the team. Massinburg had many key performances last season, including scoring the final six points, breaking a 93-93 tie and earning a road victory at Central Michigan. He also hit the last two free throws to seal a road victory at Ohio.

Perkins was named the MAC's Sixth Man of the Year last year, just the second player in school history to earn that honor. Perkins averaged 12.4 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds last year as he came off the bench in 14 of 32 games, including 14 of the last 15 games of the year. Known for his 20 points in the NCAA Tournament against Miami as a freshman, Perkins has always played some of his best games against top competition. He had 23 points last year at Pitt and a career-best 24 points at St. Bonaventure. He also had 21-point games against Western Michigan and Ball State.

Dynamic Duo

Two of the most impressive players for the Bulls during this early season have been guards Dontay Caruthers and Davonta Jordan. Caruthers, who was the MAC Defensive Player of the Year last season, recorded his first 20-point game of his UB career with 22 points a 96-91 over time win over UAB. Caruthers went 8-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-5 from three-point range in the game. Caruthers is currently second in the MAC in field goal percentage at .679 and he leads the league in 3-pt field goal percentage at .625.

Jordan has been one of the more impressive Bulls during the first five games of the season and he is tied for fifth in 3-point field goal percentage and ninth in field goal percentage at .561. Jordan already has five more three pointers than he hit all of last season and his 56 points through five games are his exact total during last year's 13-game non-conference season.

In The Nick Of Time

Junior Nick Perkins got off to a fast start to the 2017-18 season as the Ypsilanti, MI native had a career-high 26 points in the season-opening win over Canisius. The 26 points were the most by a UB player in a season opener since Nikolai Alexeev had 26 against Niagara on November 19, 1999.

Caruthers Named MAC Defensive Player Of The Year

Junior Dontay Caruthers became the first players in school history to be named MAC Defensive Player of the year last season.

He started 18 games during the season, averaging 5.9 points in conference games. He also led the MAC with 37 steals in league play and had 58 for the year, finishing just outside the top 10 in school history for single-season steals. He had a career-high 18 points in a road victory at Bowling Green last year, beginning a stretch of three straight games in double figures.

Leading The Charge

Head coach Nate Oats begins his third year on the Buffalo sidelines, having comprised a record of 37-30 during his first two years. He is the only coach in UB school history to record 20 wins in his first season as a head coach and his 37 wins in his first two years are the second most by a UB coach behind only Bobby Hurley, who had 42 wins over his first two years.

Mass Production

After getting off to a slow start against Canisius, junior CJ Massinburg was the best player on the court for the Bulls in the win over Jacksonville St. He led the Bulls in all three major categories as he finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Massinburg scored 29 points against nationally-ranked Cincinnati, his second highest scoring total of his career, while adding 10 rebounds, the first double-digit rebounding performance of the season for UB. Massinburg was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Cayman Classic.

Massinburg missed much of preseason practice with a knee injury and did not play in the exhibition against Rhode Island. He saw 16 minutes of action in the other exhibition against Daemen and then played in the season-opener against Canisius.

Air Jordan

Sophomore Davonta Jordan will look to take an increased role this season, providing depth at the point guard position. Jordan played in 31 games last season, starting five of those early on. He started the season opener as a freshman at Niagara and finished second on the team in assists with 79. Jordan had a career-high 10 assists at nationally-ranked Creighton.

Deuces Wild

One the most of anticipated newcomers will wear #2 on the Buffalo team is junior college transfer Jeremy Harris, who came to UB from Gulf Coast College, where he was ranked as the second best junior college player in the nation by JUCORecruiting.com.

Harris led the Bulls with 21 points and added 10 rebounds in the overtime contest against Rhode Island in the charity exhibition. He had a stretch for the Bulls where he scored eight straight points, erasing an eight-point deficit on his own. He led the team with 17 shots taken, but also added three assists and three steals. Harris recorded double doubles in both exhibition games as he added 13 points and 11 rebounds against Daemen. Harris had a pair of 17-point games during the Cayman Classic as he recorded double figures in scoring in all three games. He had17 points and six rebounds against nationally-ranked Cincinnati and added 17 points and four assists in the win over UAB. He had 11 points and five assists against South Dakota State.

Harris is a dynamic shooter as shown by his one performance last year where he had 10 three-pointers in a game. He is a seasoned veteran, who has played basketball at all levels, beginning with high school, before moving on to prep school for a year at Fishburne Military School. He then played two years and junior college before making his way to UB.

Cleveland Is The Reason

A native of Cleveland, OH Montell McRae is the new man in the middle for the Bulls. A transfer from South Plains Junior College, the same school as former UB player David Kadiri.

In the exhibition against Rhode Island, McRae had 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while adding an assist, three blocks, and a steal. McRae had 10 points in the win over Jacksonville State for his first regular season double figures performance

McRae was part of a South Plains team ranked first nationally for much of the season as they went 32-2 last year.

Reese Lightning

Freshman James Reese has already ignited the Buffalo crowd prior to even playing his first regular season game with the Bulls. It began over the summer, when Reese made national headlines for his dunks at the UB team camp, showing up on media outlets across the country.

Reese's athleticism extends to just his dunking and he made a strong impression in the charity exhibition against Rhode Island as he had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc. Reese's best game so far this year has been against South Dakota State where he recorded seven point and four rebounds.

Reese was named the State Player of the Year in South Carolina as he played his ball for A.C. Flora where he won two state titles, leading his team to a 21-2 record during his senior season. He averaged 25.0 points per game during the year.

Luck Of The Irish

Freshman Jayvon Graves comes to Buffalo from one of the most well known high schools in the country in the St.Vincent-St. Mary's out of Akron, OH, the same high school as NBA MVP and World Champion, LeBron James. Nicknamed the Fighting Irish, Graves and his high school teammates won the Ohio State Championship last season and Graves was named the Ohio State Player of the Year.

He had three points against Rhode Island, draining a three-pointer. Graves had a strong second half against Daemen and nearly put up a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. Graves finished with nine points and four rebounds in the win over UAB.

Brock And Roll

After redshirting his first season with the Bulls last year, redshirt freshman Brock Bertram will look to make an impact off the bench for the Bulls. Bertram is the tallest player on the UB roster and he has displayed good footwork and ball control in the post.

Bertram was a finalist for Mr. Basketball in the state of Minnesota as he averaged 15.0 points and 10 rebounds per game as his team went 32-1 during his senior year and 118-7 during his career.

Bertram had a career-high six rebounds in the win over Jacksonville State, including three offensive boards.

Wes, Please!

Senior Wes Clark will miss the beginning of the season as he finishes his NCAA eligibility requirements, but the Missouri transfer is expected to make an immediate impact for the Bulls when he becomes eligible in mid-December.

Clark played his high school basketball for head coach Nate Oats at Romulus High School outside of Detroit where the pair won a State Championship together.

Bulls Unveil Highly Touted Recruiting Class

Third-year head men's basketball coach Nate Oats has announced his signing class for the 2018-19 season, which includes three highly touted recruits. National scouting services have the Buffalo class amongst the top 60 nationally, making it the highest rated class in school history. Included in the class are a pair of ESPN four-star rated recruits and a junior college transfer:

Jeenathan Williams (6-7, SF, Rochester, NY/Prolific Prep)

Ronaldo "Rondo" Segu (6-0, PG, Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian Prep)

Javion Hamlet (6-3, PG, Memphis, TN/Motlow State College)

University at Buffalo Athletics