Bulls Set To Open 2019-20 Regular Season Friday Night

Friday, November 8

Buffalo, NY

7 pm

Dartmouth

Bulls Set To Open 2019-20 Regular Season Friday Night

11/7/2019 4:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

2019-20 Game Notes: Dartmouth Watch Live Live Stats LISTEN ON TUNEIN

Buffalo (0-0) vs. Dartmouth (0-0)
November 7, 2019
Alumni Arena - 7:00 pm

Bulls on the Air
Radio
Buffalo - ESPN 1520
Rochester - Fox Sports 1280
Hornell - 1480 WLEA

Television
ESPN+

10 Things To Know About Today's Game
1. The University at Buffalo men's basketball team is opening its 103rd year of basketball on Friday night against Dartmouth. The Bulls are 56-46 all-time in season openers and are 24-12 in home openers since moving into Alumni Arena.
2. Buffalo has won 26 straight games at Alumni Arena, tied with Tennessee for the longest in the nation. UB went a perfect 14-0 at home last season.
3. UB head coach Jim Whitesell makes his Buffalo head debut after spending four seasons as Associate Head Coach where UB went 96-43. Whitesell has 387 career victories in 24 years as a head coach.
4. This is the second straight year that UB and Dartmouth have met at Alumni Arena. The Bulls defeated the Big Green 110-71 as five players scored in double figures. Nick Perkins led all scorers with 18 points.
5. UB is looking to do something no MAC program has ever done before and thats win a third straight MAC Title. UB is also looking for its fifth tournament title in six years, a feat also never accomplished in the MAC.
6. Buffalo is coming off a 111-73 exhibition victory over Daemen on Oct. 24. Six UB players scored in double figures, led by 19 points from senior Gabe Grant.
7. Buffalo was picked to finish second in the MAC East in the preseason poll conducted by the league's head coaches. UB, who was picked behind Bowling Green, received three first-place votes. It is the first time since the 2016-17 season that Buffalo was not picked to win the East Division.
8. Junior Jayvon Graves was named to the preseason All-MAC East Team. Graves had his best season in a UB uniform last year, averaging 9.7 points per game, starting 35 of the 36 games last seasons. This marks the first time since the 2016-17 season that only one Buffalo player made the preseason team.
9. The Bulls will play opponents from the Ivy League in two of their first three games as Buffalo will face Harvard on Nov. 16 in Toronto, Canada. UB is 20-38 all-time against the Ivy League, but 43 of the 58 all-time meetings have come against Cornell.
10. Buffalo opens the season with 10 upperclassmen on this year's roster. UB features one of the more veteran teams with an average age of just under 21-years old. According to available data, senior walk-on Giambattista Davis will be just one of three players in the nation that will turn 25 during the season.

Bulls Set To Open 2019-20 Regular Season
   The University at Buffalo men's basketball team will finally open the 2019-20 regular season on Friday night as the Bulls welcome Dartmouth to Alumni Arena for the second straight season. Sliding one chair over is Jim Whitesell, the 27-year head coaching veteran who spent the last four seasons as associate head coach for the Bulls. UB is coming off a 32-4 season, being ranked for 19 straight weeks in the national rankings.
   The Bulls gave the fans a preview of what is in store with an exhibition win over D-2 powerhouse Daemen, 111-73, on Oct. 24. Six UB players scored in double figures in the game, led by 19 points from senior transfer Gabe Grant.
   Dartmouth was 11-19 last season, including a 110-71 loss at Alumni Arena in late November. Prior to last season, an Ivy League opponent had not played in Buffalo since Jan. 3, 2015 when the Bulls defeated Cornell, 92-73. The last time the Bulls played the same Ivy League opponent in back-to-back seasons was also Cornell in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.

Home Sweet Home
   Buffalo enters the 2019-20 season having won 26 straight games at Alumni Arena, the second longest streak in the country behind Tennessee, who won its 27th straight game at home on Tuesday night in its season opener. UB has not lost a home game since Dec. 2, 2017 against St. Bonaventure. The Bulls and the Vols have passed the national lead back and forth for much of the final month of last year.
   Last season the Bulls went 14-0 at home and over the last two seasons, Buffalo is 28-1 at Alumni Arena. Dating back to the 2016-17 season, UB has won 29 of its last 30 games at Alumni Arena. Going back even further to the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Buffalo is 70-15 at home.

History On The Horizon
   The Bulls are looking to accomplish something this season that has never been done in Mid-American Conference history as no MAC school has ever won five conference tournament titles in a six-year period. Last season, the Bulls became the first MAC team to win four conference titles in a five year period. The MAC Tournament dates back to the 1979-80 season.

You Get A Win, And You Get A Win
   Over the last two seasons the University at Buffalo men's basketball team has won 59 games, the eighth most in the nation during that time frame, tied with Cincinnati. Virginia led the nation with 66 wins during that time period, while Gonzaga is second with 65. As for MAC programs, the second most wins over the last two seasons came courtesy of Toledo, who had 48.

Dance Dance Revolution
   The Bulls have reached the NCAA Tournament four times in the last five years (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019). UB is one of just 28 teams that have played in four NCAA Tournaments over the last five seasons. Of those 28 teams, UB is one of just five to have earned their league's automatic bid each time joining Gonzaga (WCC), Kentucky (SEC), Iona (MAAC), and New Mexico State (WAC).

Whitesell Back In Charge
   For the first time since the 2010-11 season, UB head coach Jim Whitesell is back in charge of a basketball program. Whitesell, who served the last four years as associate head coach for the Bulls, was named the 14th head coach in program history this past April.
   Whitesell brings a long and accomplished resume into the season. His previous head coaching job was at Loyola (Chicago) where he was in charge of the Ramblers' program from 2004-11, finishing with a 109-107 record in seven seasons in charge. He is one of only five coaches in the history of Loyola Basketball with more than 100 wins. Prior to his time at Loyola, Whitesell also served as head coach at Elmhurst College and Lewis University, where he had his most success, going 214-126 in 12 seasons. Recently he was inducted into the Lewis Hall of Fame. Whitesell has a career record of 387-301 in his tenure as a head coach.
   Following his time at Loyola, Whitesell made assistant coaching stops at Saint Louis and St. John's where he worked for a pair of legendary head coaches in the late Rick Majerus and Steve Lavin before joining Nate Oats in Buffalo.

Air Jordan
   The Bulls will look to the veteran presence of senior point guard Davonta Jordan who is entering his fourth year with the program. Over the last two seasons, Jordan has played in 71 of the 72 possible games. He has started in all of those contests except two, one of those being senior day last season.
   Jordan has been named the MAC's all-defensive team each of the last two seasons as he has recorded 93 steals over the last two year. In each of his three seasons, Jordan as constantly increased his scoring, capped off by averaging 7.4 points per game last year.

From Beyond The Graves
   Junior Jayvon Graves was named to the preseason All-MAC East Division team as he is coming off a sophomore season where he started in 35 games and averaged 9.7 points per game. He added 4.2 rebounds per contest and 67 assists. He scored in double figures 17 times last season, including a career high 26 points against Ohio. He finished with 17 points in the MAC Championship win against Bowling Green and added 13 points in Buffalo's NCAA Tournament First Round victory over Arizona State.
   Graves has 528 career points through two seasons, just a shade off the team lead, which is held by Davonta Jordan. Graves is a native of Malvern, OH where he played his high school at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, the same school as Lebron James.

It's Still Brock And Roll To Me
   Junior Brock Bertram readies for his third season of action this upcoming year. Bertram, who redshirted his first season, has continued to improve each year. Last season, the Apple Vally, MN native played in 20 games, averaging 1.1 points per contest. He shot over 61% from the floor when he was out there. More impressive was the performance of Bertram on the scout team over the last three years, a big reason for the success of three-time MAC Sixth Man of the Year, Nick Perkins.
   Bertram started Buffalo's exhibition opener against Daemen and he had three points, four rebounds, and three blocked shots in the contest.

Newish Faces Emerge
   Two players that were a huge part of the team's success, but were unable to see action were senior transfers Antwain Johnson and Gabe Grant. Both players sat out the 2018-19 campaign due to NCAA Transfer rules, but served as valuable members of the scout team.
   Now with their transfer year in the review mirror, both players are ready to give it their all for one final season.
Johnson, a transfer from Middle Tennessee State, started in Buffalo's exhibition win over Daemen and had 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. In two seasons at Middle Tennessee State, Johnson averaged 7.3 points per game, including 10.3 points per contest in 2017-18. His career high in scoring came on Feb. 3, 2018 at Charlotte when he scored 23 points.
   Grant, who came to the Bulls from Houston, was impressive off the bench in the exhibition opener, leading the Bulls in scoring with 19 points and six rebounds. He went 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range against the Wildcats. Grant played in 24 games in his lone season at Houston, scoring a career best 12 points against East Carolina on Feb. 25, 2018.

No Sophomore Slump
   The Bulls will rely on a pair of sophomores this season, who both saw action in all 36 games last year, but played limited minutes. Both Jeenathan Williams and Ronaldo Segu will be looked upon to take a huge leap this season as sophomores.
   Williams started UB's exhibition game against Daemen and he finished with 16 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Williams was named to the preseason All-Big 4 second team prior to the year.
   Last season, he averaged 3.2 points per game, putting forth a career high 13 points in a win at Alumni Arena over Ohio, a game where he also had a career high eight rebounds.
   Segu came off the bench against the Wildcats, playing the role of Sixth Man, something that former Bulls have done with much success. Segu continued that trend as he finished with 12 points and 14 assists in the win over Daemen as well as four steals. He had his best game as a freshman against Dartmouth, where he scored nine points and had six rebounds.

We've Got Experience Too!
   In all, this year's men's basketball team has five players who have been a part of another Division I institution during their careers.

Antwain Johnson - Middle Tennessee St.
Gabe Grant - Houston
Josh Mballa - Texas Tech
LaQuill Hardnett - Cincinnati
David Nickelberry - Memphis

  Mballa was a member of the Texas Tech squad in 2018-19 that finished as national runners up. Mballa and the Red Raiders met up with the Bulls in the NCAA Round of 32 in Tulsa. He played in 17 games at Texas Tech with his career high in scoring coming against the Kansas Jayhawks on Feb. 2, 2019.
   Hardnett redshirted his freshman season at Cincinnati and has four years of eligibility left for UB. Nickelberry, who played last season at Trinity Valley CC, began his collegiate career at Memphis, where he played in 33 games as a freshman for the Tigers. He scored 14 points in a game twice during that year, first against Loyola (MD) and then in the AAC Conference Tournament in a 79-77 win over USF.

Young Guns
   The Bulls welcome in a pair of freshman that complete the class of newcomers for Coach Whitesell and company in David Skogman and Savion Gallion.
   A native of Waukesha, WI, Skogman was a second-team All-State selection this past year for Waukesha West High School. He averaged 18.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game during his senior season, while shooting 38.6% from three-point range. SN Connect voted Skogman as its top post player in the state of Wisconsin, while 247 Sports has Skogman listed as its second best player in the state of Wisconsin for 2019.
   Gallion is a 6-4 guard from Washington, DC who played last season at Mt. Zion Prep where he averaged 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. Prior to his one year of prep school, Gallion played basketball and competed in track and field at Thurgood Marshall High School, where he was a Washington Post All-Met team honorable mention selection on the hardwood. As a senior, Gallion averaged 22.0 points per game, while averaging 6.0 boards per contest.

Walk This Way
   The Bulls have a quartet of walk ons that complete the squad. Three of the four walk ons sat out last season, while Dominic Johnson joined the squad following the completion of the UB football season. Johnson has been a member of the Bulls for the last two seasons, taking part in both MAC Championship campaigns. He has seen action in 15 games during his career.
   Seniors Giambattista Davis and Patrick Moore both saw action at other schools prior to coming to Buffalo. Davis played at Daemen College and is currently one of the oldest players in college basketball as he will turn 25 during the seasons. Moore saw action as a member of SUNY Cortland. Junior Jamon Bivens is healthy and eligible for actions after rehabbing a knee injury last season.

Injury Report
   Junior Tra'Von Fagan, who played in 22 games last season for the Bulls, will missed the 2019-20 campaign after suffering an offseason knee injury.

Success Breeds Success
   The 2018-19 season was a successful one for the entire Division of Athletics at the University at Buffalo. In addition to the men's program winning a MAC Title and reaching the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament, the women's basketball team also won the MAC and their first round tournament game. In addition to that, the UB football program won the MAC East Division and played in their third bowl game in school history.
   UB was one of just seven programs in the nation to have played in a bowl game and had both its men's and women's basketball teams winning NCAA Tournament games. UB joins a list that includes Baylor, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan St., Kentucky, and Oregon.