Central Michigan
UB Heads To CMU With Third Straight Win In Sight
1/17/2020 10:38:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Buffalo (11-6, 2-2 MAC) at Central Michigan (10-7, 3-1 MAC)
January 18, 2020
McGuirk Arena (Mt. Pleasant, MI) - 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. Two of the MAC's top offensive teams square off on Saturday afternoon as Buffalo heads to Central Michigan. UB is averaging just under 80.0 points per game, while Central Michigan leads the MAC and is third in the nation in scoring at 83.8 points per game.
2. Buffalo has won the last eight meetings against Central Michigan and leads the all-time series 22-14. Since the 2014-15 season, the Bulls and Chippewas have met three times in the postseason (2015, 2018, 2019). UB won a MAC title in each of those seasons.
3. In seven of those eight meetings, UB has scored no fewer than 85 points a game, topping out at 101 points in a meeting on Jan. 31, 2017. Over the eight-game winning streak, Buffalo is averaging 89.4 points against the Chippewas during the winning streak.
4. Sophomore Jeenathan Williams scored a career high 26 points in the win over Ohio on Tuesday night. He scored 24 of those points in the second half and has now scored in double figures in eight straight games.
5. Buffalo is currently third in the nation in offensive rebounding, averaging 14.35 offensive boards a game, behind Houston and Portland St. Individually, sophomore Josh Mballa is 16th in the nation in offensive rebounds, averaging 3.82 per game.
6. UB has started the same starting lineup for all 17 games this season. Buffalo is the only team in the nation with their entire starting lineup averaging in double figures. Junior Jayvon Graves leads the Bulls in scoring at 16.7 points per game.
7. Senior Davonta Jordan is in rare company as he is one of only 13 seniors in the country with at least 795 points, 440 assists, and 350 rebounds. With 445 career assists, he is just 13 assists shy of third place on UB's all-time list with
8. The Bulls continue to have the third shortest possession time in the nation at 14.3 seconds per possession. The only schools that have a shorted length are FIU and Green Bay. According to KenPom, the adjusted tempo for UB is also eighth nationally.
9. The Bulls have had six blocked shots in three straight games and have had multiple blocked shots in every game this season. UB leads the MAC in blocks in conference play, averaging 5.25 per game.
10. Buffalo head coach Jim Whitesell has won 398 games during his head coaching career. Currently, Whitesell is 51st amongst all active head coaches in career wins.
UB Heads To CMU With Third Straight Win In Sight
Buffalo heads back on the road looking for its third straight victory as the Bulls face Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon. After starting league play 0-2, Buffalo is looking to move over .500 for the first time this year.
The Bulls are coming off victories against Miami and Ohio. In the most recent win, sophomore Jeenathan Williams scored a career high 26 points, 24 of those coming in the second half. Senior Antwain Johnson had 18 points in the win, going 7-of-12 from the floor. Buffalo is still looking for its first win against a member of the MAC West, having dropped the first two league games to Northern Illinois and Ball State.
Central Michigan is 3-1 in league play and remains undefeated at home this seasons. Both the Bulls and Chippewas held halftime leads at DePaul in non-conference play with Buffalo handing the Blue Demons their first loss of the season.
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 70 games, tied for 10th most nationally with Kansas and UNC-Greensboro. Gonzaga leads the way nationally with 84 victories over that time. As for MAC programs, the second most wins over the last two plus seasons comes courtesy of Toledo, who has 57, which is tied for 50th.
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 14.35 per game. Only once this season has Buffalo failed to hit double figures in offensive rebounding, which was at Vanderbilt. Sophomore Josh Mballa is 17th in the nation in offensive boards, averaging 3.82 per game. Sophomore Jeenathan Williams had a career best seven offensive boards against Northern Illinois. 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. The Bulls added 50 rebounds against Canisius marking the second time they have had at least 50 boards in a game. UB did it three times altogether last season in 36 games. In the win over Niagara, UB held the Purple Eagles to just 23 boards, the lowest by an opponent this year and the fewest by the opposition since Le Moyne had 22 on Dec, 5, 2018. UB has recorded more rebounds than its opponent 10 times this year, including in four of the last six games, three of those being the Big 4 victories to round out non-conference play. The Bulls had 43 rebounds against Miami getting 13 boards from Mballa and 10 more from senior guard Davonta Jordan.
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 398-307 in his tenure as a head coach. The 397 wins are 51st 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.
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 then 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. It was the first of two straight games where he flirted with a triple-double, adding 14 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.
Jordan notched a new career high with 26 points in the win over Canisius, tying his career high with nine rebounds. He had eight assists in the win over Niagara as he was named the MAC East Player of the Week for the first time in his career. He recorded a new career high in rebounding in the win at Miami with 10 boards, notching his second double-double of the year. In wins this season, Jordan is averaging 6.2 assists per game.
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, and has already scored 237 this year. 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. He added 22 points in the win over Niagara and set a career high with 28 points in the win over St. Bonaventure. Graves, who added 25 points in the win over Miami, has scored in double figures in 15 of 17 games this season and he leads UB in scoring at 16.7 points per game.
No Sophomore Slump
The Bulls are relying 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 have already set career highs in all offensive categories.
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. He added 14 more points in the win over Canisius. Segu gave the Bulls a spark in the win over Miami as he had 16 points and six assists in a reserve role.
Williams has started in every game so far for the Bulls. 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. Williams had 13 points against Army West Point, including three offensive rebounds. He drained a huge three-pointer late in the win over Canisius and finished with 12 points against the Griffs. He notched his first career double-double with 19 points and a career high 10 rebounds against Niagara. Williams has scored in double figures in eight straight games scoring a new career high with 26 points in the win over Ohio, 24 of those coming in the second half.
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 scored 18 points in the win over Ohio.
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 made his season debut in the MAC opener against Northern Illinois after missing the first 13 games due to a foot injury. He had three rebounds in limited action. In his second game on Tuesday against Ball State, Bertram had a career high three blocked shots, while also recording his first points of the season. He finished with four points and tied his career high with six rebounds against Miami.
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 had scored in double figures in five straight games prior to Ball State and seven of the last nine. He had 14 rebounds at DePaul and a career-best 15 against St. Bonaventure. He added 13 boards against Miami and leads the Bulls in boards at 9.1 per contest.
Hardnett redshirted his freshman season at Cincinnati and has four years of eligibility left for UB. He has registered career highs with nine point and 11 rebounds against Canisius.
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.
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.
