Bulls Look To Remain Unbeaten In League Play Tuesday Night At Akron

Buffalo (10-5, 2-0 MAC) at Akron (7-7, 0-2 MAC)
January 9, 2018
Worthen Arena - 2:00 pm

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Quick Hits

• Buffalo remains on the road Tuesday night when the Bulls will play their first game against the MAC East with a road contest at Akron. UB is looking to remaining perfect in league play, while the Zips are searching for their first win.

• Akron leads the all-time series 33-26 as the Zips won both meeting last season. UB's last win in the series was Buffalo's second MAC Title as it defeated Akron 64-61 on March 12, 2016. UB is looking for its first regular season win over Akron since the 2014-15 season and their first win in Rhodes Arena since 2011-12.

• Tuesday night's game will mark a homecoming for freshman Jayvon Graves, who grew up in nearby Malvern, OH. Graves, who was named the Ohio State Player of the Year after leading St. Vincent-St. Mary's to a state title, is coming off his best game as a Bull, scoring a career-high 16 points in the win at Ball State.

• The 63 points allowed by the Bulls on Saturday afternoon at Ball State were the fewest that Buffalo has allowed against a D-I opponent. UB held the Cardinals to just 24.2% shooting from the field in the first half.

• Junior Nick Perkins, who was named the MAC Sixth Man of the Year last year and was named MAC East Player of the Week on Monday, has now come off the bench in five straight games and he is averaging 17.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in those five contests. He had his first double-double of the year 24 points and 10 boards against Toledo and followed that up with 15 points and 11 rebounds against Ball State.

• Buffalo leads the MAC and is 38th nationally in scoring offense, averaging 82.7 points per game. UB has only averaged over 80.0 per game for a season once in their 100 year history.

• The Bulls have had six different players score 20 or more points in a game this season, led by CJ Massinburg, who has done it nine times. The six different players are tied for the national lead with Georgia Southern, Gonzaga, Penn, Seattle, and Arizona State.

The Opponent

• Akron is 7-7 on the season and 0-2 in conference play, having played its first two conference games on the road, including a 67-65 loss at Toledo on Friday night. The Zips are looking to get back to their winning ways as they have lost five of their last six games. Akron is undefeated at home, winning all seven of their games at Rhodes Arena.

• The Zips have three players averaging in double figures, led by Daniel Utomi, who is averaging 18.1 points per game, while he is shooting 44.3% from three. He is also Akron's leading rebounder at 6.6 boards per game. Malcolm Duvivier, a graduate transfer from Oregon State, is averaging 14.6 points per game, while Jimond Ivey is averaging 12.6 points per game.

• Tuesday night's game will be a battle of two of the top three-point shooting teams in the league. Akron leads the MAC in three's made per game at 10.0. Daniel Utomi and Malcolm Duvivier are the top two players in the league in three-pointers made per game at 3.4 and 3.3, respectively.

• John Groce returned to the MAC this season as he is in his first year as head coach at Akron. Leading his teams to 19 postseason appearances, including two Mid-American Conference championships and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance, Groce becomes the 22nd head coach of Akron men's basketball. Prior to joining the Zips, Groce was head men's basketball coach at the University of Illinois for five seasons. He led the Illini to an average of 19 wins per season. He arrived at Illinois after four seasons as head coach at Ohio University, where he led the Bobcats to an 85-56 overall record as well as Mid-American Conference Tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2010 and 2012.

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.

For the first time since the 1997-98 season, the Bulls hit 100 points in multiple games in the same season following their 104-94 win against Toledo in the MAC opener. The 104 points were the second most scored by UB in a MAC game and their most ever in regulation of a MAC contest. While the Bulls have already scored 100 or more twice against D-I schools, the rest of the league combined only has one 100-point performance against a D-I opponent.

Mr. 1000

Junior CJ Massinburg became the newest member of the 1,000-point club in the MAC opener against Toledo as he scored 27 points against the Rockets. Massinburg is the 20th player to score 1,000 points for the Bulls and he is the seventh fastest to do so, achieving it in his 73rd career game, which is quicker than previous MAC Players of the Year Turner Battle, Mitchell Watt, and all-time leading scorer, Javon McRea.

After scoring just eight points in the opener, Massinburg has scored double figures in each of the last 13 games, scoring at least 20 points nine times. He scored 30 at Delaware, the second time in his career he has done that. Twice this year, Massinburg has been named the MAC East Player of the Week and he currently leads the MAC in scoring at 19.6 points per game. Massinburg is also UB's leading rebounder on the season, as he is averaging 7.8 boards per contest, which is sixth in the league. He has a team-high five double-doubles on the year, including recording a career-high 14 boards at Delaware. The five double-doubles are third most in the Mid-American Conference.

Massinburg is 17th on the all-time scoring list with 1,037 career points.

Wild, Wild Wes

The Bulls got a huge boost to their lineup prior to the Syracuse game on Dec. 19 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 added 17 points and eight assists against Texas A&M. Clark scored 27 points in his Alumni Arena debut on Dec. 29, scoring 13 of those points in the overtime period. It was a new career high for Clark as he scored 26 against South Carolina, while playing for Missouri.

He played his high school basketball for Buffalo head coach Nate Oats at Romulus High School right outside of Detroit, MI.

Clark had 25 points and five assists in the win over Toledo, and he is averaging 18.8 points and 5.8 assists over his first five games.

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 Power 5 competition. In addition to 18 against Syracuse on Dec. 19, Perkins had 20 points as a freshman against Miami (FL) in the NCAA Tournament, and last season he added 23 points at Pitt. He added 17 points against SEC foe Texas A&M. Perkins had his first double-double of the year with 24 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Toledo. He has now recorded back-to-back double-doubles following his 15 points and 11 rebounds at Ball State. Perkins has now come off the bench in five straight games and he is averaging 17.6 points per game in those contests. Perkins was named the MAC East Player of the Week following back-to-back wins to open conference play where he averaged 19.5 point and 10.5 rebounds.

Dialing From Long Distance

The Bulls had one of their best games from behind the arc in school history in the loss at nationally-ranked Texas A&M on Dec. 21. The Bulls hit 17 three-pointers in the game, second in school history, and the most since hitting 18 against Troy State on Feb. 22, 1996 when UB went 18-for-40 in the contest.

Buffalo shot 17-of-39 from behind the arc against the Aggies as four players hit at least three triples, led by a career-high six three pointers from CJ Massinburg. Senior Wes Clark and juniors Jeremy Harris and Montell McRae each hit three. McRae was a perfect 3-of-3. The 17 three's made by the Bulls were the most by a MAC school against a Division I opponent this year.

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 at Delaware. Jordan averaged just 2.5 points per game last year, but this season he is averaging 9.4 points per game. Through the first 15 games, Jordan has 133 points, already surpassing the 76 he scored all of last year. He has 11 three-pointers, nine more than last year. Jordan had 15 points in the win over Toledo, his highest total in the last six games.

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 47 career wins, Oats is just two away from tying V. William Hughes (1978-82) for seventh place on the all-time wins 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 had a big afternoon against Ball State as he finished with 16 points in the win over the Cardinals.

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.

Graves recorded a career high 16 points in the win at Ball State as he went 5-for-8 from the field, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc.

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 went a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc against Texas A&M on Dec. 21.

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.

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.

University at Buffalo Athletics