Bulls Travel To Nationally-Ranked Texas A&M For Thursday Night Battle

Buffalo (7-4, 0-0 MAC) at #8 Texas A&M (10-1, 0-0 SEC)
December 21, 2017
Reed Arena - 9:00 pm EST

Bulls on the Air

Radio - ESPN 1520-AM WWKB/TuneIn App

Television - SEC Network

Quick Hits

• The Bulls continue their tough road trip on Thursday night with a nationally-televised contest at #8 Texas A&M. The Aggies are 10-1 on the season. This will be the first SEC opponent for UB since #1 Kentucky in 2014-15.

• This will mark the second ever meeting between Buffalo and Texas A&M, with the Aggies winning the season opener during the 2013-14 season. That was former head coach Bobby Hurley's first collegiate game as head coach, with current head coach Nate Oats on the sidelines as Hurley's assistant.

• Today's game will be the first collegiate game in the state of Texas for Dallas native CJ Massinburg, who played his high school ball at South Oak Cliff. Massinburg, who is Buffalo's leading scorer and rebounder, is expected to have a big crowd in attendance.

• Senior Wes Clark made his long-awaited debut on Tuesday night at Syracuse, playing in his first collegiate game since February 13, 2016 at Missouri. Clark, who was cleared to play just hours before tip, had 15 points in his Buffalo debut. Clark also added six assists for the Bulls. Having played for Missouri in the SEC, this will be his fourth career game against the Aggies. Clark is averaging 15.0 points per game in the first three meetings.

• Despite playing the toughest schedule in the league to date, the Bulls still are tied for the MAC lead in scoring, averaging 81.4 points per game. The Bulls have not averaged over 80 points for a season since 1971-72.

• As of Wednesday, the Bulls are 51th in the latest RPI, their highest of the season. All four of UB's loss have come to team's inside the RPI Top 100. Tonight's opponent, Texas A&M, is currently ranked 10.

• Buffalo leads the Mid-American Conference in assists, averaging 16.2 dimes per contest. On Tuesday night at Syracuse a pair of Bulls had at least five helpers as Wes Clark had six, while Davonta Jordan added five. Jordan is currently eighth in the league in assists.

The Opponent

• Texas A&M is ranked eighth in the latest AP National Poll and is 10-1 on the season following a 64-58 win over Northern Kentucky on Tuesday night. The Aggies lone loss this year came in Phoenix against Arizona, 67-64. Texas A&M's best win came in the season opener, 88-65, against West Virginia

• Texas A&M has four players averaging in double figures led by D.J. Hogg, who is averaging 14.6 points per game. Tyler Davis adds 13.7 points and is pulling down 8.2 boards per contest. Admon Gilder adds 12.7 points and leads the Aggies with 44 assists.

• Texas A&M was picked third in the 14-member SEC in the preseason poll, behind just Kentucky and Florida. Robert Williams and Tyler Davis were both preseason All-League selections.

• The 2016 SEC Coach of the Year, Billy Kennedy was named the 21st men's basketball coach at Texas A&M on May 16, 2011. Since taking the reins of the program, Kennedy has guided Texas A&M to an SEC title and three trips to the postseason, highlighted by a run to the 2016 Sweet 16 which matched the school's deepest run in the NCAA Tournament. A two-time Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Kennedy came to Aggieland after five seasons at the helm at Murray State University in Kentucky. There, he guided the Racers to a winning record in each year of his tenure. Kennedy came to Murray State after serving the 2005-06 season as an assistant to current Missouri coach Frank Haith at the University of Miami.

Seeing Double

Through 10 games, the Bulls have already had 10 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 last Saturday, Ikenna Smart became the ninth different player as he scored 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting. Senior Wes Clark became the 10th different player to do it as he scored 15 points in his UB debut on Tuesday night at Syracuse. UB is one just 27 schools nationally with at least 10 players scoring double figures in a game.

Wild, Wild Wes

The Bulls got a huge boost to their lineup on Tuesday evening as senior Wes Clark was cleared to play by the NCAA, marking his first collegiate game since February 13, 2016 when he played for Missouri. Clark, who joined UB last January, has been practicing with Buffalo since then, but he was finally able to play in his first game at Syracuse.

Clark scored 15 points and had six assists in his UB debut, picking up the start and playing 34 minutes. Clark played his high school basketball for Buffalo head coach Nate Oats at Romulus High School right outside of Detroit, MI.

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, earning his second MAC weekly honor. Massinburg is third in the league in scoring and tied for 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 10.2 points per game. Through the first 11 games, Jordan has 112 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 3.3

Jordan is currently eighth in the league in assists at 4.0 assists per game.

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.

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.

Perkins came off the bench for the first time this season against Syracuse and he ended up leading the Bulls in scoring with 18 points, while also pulling down seven rebounds, including six offensive ones. Perkins has had some of his best games against ACC competition. In addition to 18 against Syracuse on Tuesday, Perkins had 20 points as a freshman against Miami (FL) in the NCAA Tournament, and last season he added 23 points at Pitt.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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