Army
Bulls Return Home For First Of Five Straight On Saturday
12/13/2019 11:39:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Buffalo (6-3) vs. Army West Point (4-5)
December 14, 2019
Alumni Arena (Buffalo, NY) - 2:00 pm
Radio
Buffalo - ESPN 1520
Rochester - Fox Sports 1280
Hornell - 1480 WLEA
Television
ESPN+
10 Things To Know About Today's Game
1. The Bulls return home for the first of five straight games on Saturday afternoon when UB hosts Army West Point. The Bulls are 5-4 against the Black Knights, but this will be the first meeting between the schools since Dec. 1, 2010 a 56-54 win for the Bulls in West Point. This also marks UB's first game against a Patriot League opponent since Buffalo defeated American, 78-61, in the 2012 Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament.
2. Buffalo will be playing five straight home games for the first time since the 2008-09 season and they will be facing four straight opponents from New York for the first time since 2013.
3. Senior Davonta Jordan finished just shy of a triple double on Sunday as he finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. He is one of only six players to put up those numbers or better in a road game this season, including one of just three to do it in regulation, and he is the only player to do it at a major conference opponent's home arena.
4. Buffalo is currently third in the nation in offensive rebounding, averaging 15.2 offensive boards a game. Individually, sophomore Josh Mballa is 5th in the nation in offensive rebounds, averaging 4.2 per game. He had six offensive boards against DePaul as part of his career-high 14-rebound performance.
5. The 53 rebounds by UB vs. DePaul were the most for an opponent against the Blue Demons since Pitt had 58 on Jan. 26, 2013. Going back to the 2010-11 season, Buffalo is only the fourth team with 50 or more rebounds in a game against DePaul.
6. According to KenPom, Buffalo is currently fourth in shortest possession length and fourth in adjusted tempo as the Bulls average 77.4 possessions per game, trailing only Houston Baptist, Mississippi Valley State and Eastern Kentucky. Of the top 7 teams in tempo, UB is the only one with a positive efficiency margin.
7. Sunday's game against DePaul was the latest in a season that UB has knocked off an undefeated team since joining the MAC.
8. The 14 rebounds by Josh Mballa are them most by a Buffalo player since Blake Hamilton in 2016.
9. Head coach Jim Whitesell picked up his 393rd career win on Sunday. He is currently 52nd amongst all active head coaches.
10. Army's Dale Hall was National Player of the Year in 1945. He also hails from Parsons, KS the same hometown as UB radio voice Josh Whetzel.
Bulls Return Home For First Of Five Straight
The Bulls will return to Western New York for just the second time since the middle of November as they open a five-game homestand against Army West Point. This will be the first of four straight games against an opponent from the state of New York. Buffalo is coming off its best win of the season as UB handed DePaul its first defeat of the year, 74-69 on Sunday. Junior Jayvon Graves led the Bulls with 21 points, while senior Davonta Jordan finished just shy of a triple-double with 12 points, a career-high nine rebounds, and eight assists.
Army West Point is coming off a pair of losses, most recently on Wednesday night to Merrimack. Saturday's game will mark just the fourth home game for the Bulls, the fewest in the Mid-American Conference.
You Get A Win, And You Get A Win
Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the University at Buffalo men's basketball team has won 65 games, tied for eighth most nationally with Cincinnati, Kansas, and Nevada. Gonzaga leads the way nationally with 75 victories over that time. As for MAC programs, the second most wins over the last two plus seasons comes courtesy of Toledo, who has 55, which is tied for 35th.
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).
On The Rebound
The Bulls are third in the nation in offensive rebounding as they are averaging 15.2 per game, trailing just Portland State and Oral Roberts. Only once this season has Buffalo failed to hit double figures in offensive rebounding, which was at Vanderbilt. Sophomore Josh Mballa is sixth in the nation in offensive boards, averaging 4.2 per game. UB had a season high 53 rebounds in the win over DePaul, its most in a game since last year's MAC Quarterfinal win over Akron when they finished with 55 rebounds.
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.
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. Whitesell picked up his first career UB win on Nov. 11 against Nazareth and now has a career record of 392-304 in his tenure as a head coach. The 393 wins are 52nd amongst all active head coaches.
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. In the season opener, Jordan led the Bulls with 17 points, 13 of those coming over the final 12 minutes of the game. He tied his career high with four three-pointers, while adding six rebounds and four steals.
In the Charleston Classic, Jordan had a double-double with 10 points and tied his career high with 10 assists in the win over Towson. In the final game against Missouri St., Jordan set a new career high in scoring with 25 points, hitting 5-of-6 shots from three point range. Jordan had seven steals against William & Mary, fourth in school history in a single game and tied for the most by a player this year. In the victory over DePaul, Jordan became just the fifth player in school history to surpass the 400-assist mark for his career. He also finished just shy of a triple-double with 12 points, a career high nine rebounds, and eight assists.
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 had 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. He opened the 2019 season with 15 points against Dartmouth and added 17 more against Nazareth. Graves had 17 points in the win over Harvard, including a buzzer-beating three. He had his best night in Charleston against Towson where the junior finished with 25 points and eight rebounds. Graves added 24 points on a career-best 10 made field goals against William & Mary and added 21 points against DePaul. Graves has scored in double figures in all nine games this season and he leads UB in scoring at 17.2 points per game.
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 and through three games, Segu looks to possibly be the top talent on the team
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. Playing the sixth man roll, Segu had 17 points against Nazareth and a career high 21 against Harvard. He has shot just under 87% from the floor in those two games as well. He had 12 assists and just two turnovers in those games. Segu had 14 points in the win over DePaul, including draining a pair of threes right before the half.
Williams started UB's exhibition game against Daemen and he finished with 16 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of action. He finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in Buffalo's win over Harvard. Williams was named to the preseason All-Big 4 second team prior to the year. Williams scored a career best 17 points in the victory over Missouri State as he went 6-of-12 from the floor, including a pair of three pointers. On the defensive end he chipped in two blocks and three steals.
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. Johnson lit it up from three against Harvard as he finished with 19 points, including going 5-of-7 from three point range. 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. Johnson hit a pair of game-winning free throws in the victory over Missouri St., while also claiming the Blue Collar hard hat against the Bears. Johnson is third on the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game.
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.
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. He is currently out with a foot injury.
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. Mballa had a career best 15 points against UConn and followed that up with his first double-double of the year, scoring 13 points and adding 11 rebounds against Towson. Mballa has scored in double figures in four of the last six games and he leads the Bulls in rebounding at 8.3 per game after his career high 14 rebounds against DePaul. His offensive rebounding total is amongst the best in the nation.
Hardnett redshirted his freshman season at Cincinnati and has four years of eligibility left for UB. He has played in all eight games this season off the bench.
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.
Home Sweet Home
Buffalo had a 26-game home winning streak snapped in the season opener, which had been the second longest streak in the country. Despite the loss, UB has had much success at Alumni Arena.
Last season the Bulls went 14-0 at home and over the previous two seasons, Buffalo went 28-1 at Alumni Arena. Dating back to the 2016-17 season, UB had won 30 of its last 31 games at Alumni Arena. Going back even further to the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Buffalo is 72-15 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.
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.
