Bulls Set To Battle ACC Foe Syracuse In Empire State Showdown

Buffalo (7-3, 0-0 MAC) at Syracuse (9-1, 0-0 ACC)
December 19, 2017
Carrier Dome - 7:00 pm

Bulls on the Air

Radio - ESPN 1520-AM WWKB/TuneIn App

Television - ACC Network Extra

Quick Hits

• Winners of three straight, Buffalo will look for its fourth win when the Bulls head down the Thruway for their first meeting with Syracuse in nearly 16 years. This is the third straight season that Buffalo will play an ACC school, having met Pitt last year and Duke two seasons ago, as well as Miami (FL) in the NCAA Tournament. UB's last win over an ACC opponent was Miami (FL) during the 2006-07 season.

• Syracuse leads the all-time series 27-5 in a series that dates back to the 1917-18 season. The Orange have won 17 straight in the series, but despite being just two hours from each other, these two teams have not played since 2001. Buffalo won three straight in the series between 1961-1963, which was their last win in the series.

• UB sophomore Davonta Jordan and Syracuse freshman Howard Washington both played at the prestigious Montverde Academy during the 2015-16 season. Washington is a Buffalo native, playing at Canisius High School, the same as UB walk-on Colby Moultrie.

• Making his season debut on Saturday, Ikenna Smart became the ninth different UB player to score in double figures this season as he had a career-high 12 points. Last season, UB had 10 different players score in double figures all year.

• Junior CJ Massinburg is one of just two players in the MAC averaging at least 20.0 points per game. The Dallas, TX native has six 20-point games already on the season. He had just five 20-point games during his first two seasons. On Monday, Massinburg was named MAC East Player of the Week for the second time this year.

• As of Monday, the Bulls are 71st in the latest RPI. All three of UB's loss have come to team's inside the RPI Top 100. This week, UB will face Syracuse (12) and Texas A&M (9), two teams in the top 15 of the RPI.

• Buffalo is currently the highest scoring team in the Mid-American Conference at 82.1 points per game. The Bulls have scored 80 or more points in seven of 10 games.

The Opponent

• Syracuse is 9-1 on the season with their lone loss coming against nationally-ranked, Kansas. The Orange have played seven of their first 10 games inside the Carrier Dome where they are a perfect 7-0. Most recently, Syracuse handed Georgetown its first loss of the year with an 86-79 overtime victory on Saturday.

• Syracuse has three players in double figures led by Tyus Battle, who is averaging 21.5 points per game. Frank Howard is second on the team at 15.1 points and he is also averaging a team-high 6.3 assists per contest. Oshae Brissett is just shy of averaging a double-double with 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest.

• Syracuse was picked 10th in the 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference in the preseason as Duke was picked to win the league. Freshman Oshae Brissett received one vote as the league's preseason rookie of the year.

• Hall of Fame member Jim Boeheim has had a remarkable run as head coach at his alma mater, Syracuse University. Boeheim has guided only winning teams in his tenure and has pushed the Orange into the postseason in all but two of his 41 years. SU has made 32 trips into the NCAA Tournament, including five Final Fours and the 2003 NCAA Tutle. A four-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year, Boeheim has been honored as NABC District II Coach of the Year 10 times and USBWA District II Coach of the Year on four occasions. During the 2000 Final Four he was presented with the Claire Bee Award in recognition of his contributions to the sport.

Seeing Double

Through 10 games, the Bulls have already had nine different players score in double figures in a game, led by junior CJ Massinburg. Last season, the Bulls had 10 different players score in double figures all season. One of the players not on the list last season was Davonta Jordan, who has already done it six times this year. In his first game of the season on Saturday, Ikenna Smart became the ninth different player as he scored 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting.

Giving 100%

The Bulls hit the magical 100-point number for the first time this season during their 106-87 victory at Niagara. The 106 points tied the school record for points scored in a road game, matching the total from March 2, 1974 at Rochester. It was only the fourth time ever that Buffalo had scored triple figures in a road game and it was the most points in a road game since a 100-92 win at Chicago State on November 21, 2001.

Since Nate Oats took over as head coach in 2015-16, the Bulls have eclipsed the 100-point mark three times. They scored 109 points in his first ever game against Pitt-Bradford and then the Bulls scored 101 last year against Central Michigan. In program history, the Bulls have only lost three games total when scoring over 100 points, two of those being overtime contests.

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 added 25 points in the win over Niagara and 21 points against St. Bonaventure. Massinburg was named the MAC East Player of the Week following those games against the Big 4, earning that honor for the first time in his career.

Massinburg had his second career 30-point game on Dec. 6 at Delaware as he finished with 30 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Massinburg has five 20-point games so far this year. Massinburg also went over the 900-point mark for his career against Delaware. He recorded his third straight double-double in the win over Robert Morris with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Massinburg is second in the league in scoring and sixth in the MAC in rebounding.

Sophomore Sensation

It can be argued that sophomore Davonta Jordan is one of the most improved players in the nation from last season and that was capped off with his first career 20-point game on Wednesday night at Delaware. Jordan averaged just 2.5 points per game last year, but this season he is averaging 10.6 points per game. Through the first 10 games, Jordan has 106 points, already surpassing the 76 he scored all of last year. He has 11 three-pointers, nine more than last year. On the glass, he averaged 1.8 rebounds last season and this year he is averaging 3.35

Jordan is currently tied for eighth in the league in assists at 3.9 assists per game and 10th in the league in field goal percentage at .538.

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.

Oats surpassed his predecessor on Dec. 9 vs. Central Penn as he picked up his 43rd win in his 76th game as head coach. With 44 career wins, Oats is just five away from moving up to seventh on UB's career coaching list.

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. His best game so far came against Niagara as he finished with a career-high 23 points, going 5-of-8 from three-point range. He also added seven rebounds and six assists. Harris recorded his first career double-double against Central Penn and added 14 points and nine rebounds in the win over Robert Morris.

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.

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.

Get Smart

Junior Ikenna Smart made his season debut on Saturday against Robert Morris after missing the first nine games of the season due to a back injury. Playing in his 67th career game, Smart recorded a new career high in scoring with 12 points as he went a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in 21 minutes of action. Smart was relentless on the offensive glass as he had six rebounds in total, four of those coming on the offensive end.

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. He scored a new career high with 13 points against Central Penn.

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 also had seven points against St. Bonaventure. He picked up his first career start at Delaware and in the win over Central Penn, Reese had a career-best 18 points, while adding six rebounds and six assists.

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. He added seven second half points against Delaware, while also pulling down six rebounds. Graves scored 11 points, while adding six rebounds in the win over Central Penn. He had his second straight double-digit performance with 10 points against Robert Morris.

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 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.

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 then career-high 18 points in a road victory at Bowling Green last year, beginning a stretch of three straight games in double figures.

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