Graves And Mballa Earn Preseason All-League Honors
11/19/2020 9:03:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The Mid-American Conference announced their preseason men's basketball honors Thursday morning as senior Jayvon Graves was named to the preseason All-MAC First Team, while junior Josh Mballa was named to the league's second team. As a team, Buffalo was picked fourth in the preseason poll.
Graves, who was named a first-team All-MAC selection last year, led the Bulls in scoring at 17.1 points per game as he broke the school record for field goals attempted in a season, while his 204 field goals made are third most in a single seasons. Graves also notched a career best of 5.4 rebounds per game.
Graves became the 23rd player in school history to record 1,000 career points and he currently sits in 18th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,080 points. He scored in double figures in all but three games this season, highlighted by a career best 33 points in Buffalo's double overtime win at Kent State.
He is joined on the first team by Loren Cristian Jackson from Akron, Justin Turner of Bowling Green, Jason Preston of Ohio, and Toledo's Marreon Jackson.
Mballa was one of the biggest surprises for the team, transferring in last year after playing his freshman season at Texas Tech. Mballa, who was named to the Preseason All-MAC Second Team, played in all 32 games, starting 20 of them. He averaged 10.8 points per game, and a team-best 9.6 rebounds per contest. The 308 rebounds from Mballa were the most by a UB player in the Modern Era and the most since the 1977-78 season. He had a career high of 17 rebounds against Akron and finished the year in the top 10 nationally in offensive rebounding.
Mballa is joined on the second team by Ishmael El-Amin from Ball State, Bowling Green's Daeqwon Plowden, Danny Pippen of Kent State, and Ben Vander Plas from Ohio.
With the elimination of divisions for the 2020-21 season, the 12 teams were ranked top to bottom beginning with Bowling Green, who received eight first place votes and 132 points. Ohio was picked second and Akron third, while the Bulls were picked fourth, receiving 109 points. Ball State was selected right behind UB in fifth.
The Bulls are set to tip off the 2020-21 regular season on Wednesday November 25 when they host Gannon. MAC play is set to begin at preseason league favorite Bowling Green on Dec. 6.
Graves, who was named a first-team All-MAC selection last year, led the Bulls in scoring at 17.1 points per game as he broke the school record for field goals attempted in a season, while his 204 field goals made are third most in a single seasons. Graves also notched a career best of 5.4 rebounds per game.
Graves became the 23rd player in school history to record 1,000 career points and he currently sits in 18th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,080 points. He scored in double figures in all but three games this season, highlighted by a career best 33 points in Buffalo's double overtime win at Kent State.
He is joined on the first team by Loren Cristian Jackson from Akron, Justin Turner of Bowling Green, Jason Preston of Ohio, and Toledo's Marreon Jackson.
Mballa was one of the biggest surprises for the team, transferring in last year after playing his freshman season at Texas Tech. Mballa, who was named to the Preseason All-MAC Second Team, played in all 32 games, starting 20 of them. He averaged 10.8 points per game, and a team-best 9.6 rebounds per contest. The 308 rebounds from Mballa were the most by a UB player in the Modern Era and the most since the 1977-78 season. He had a career high of 17 rebounds against Akron and finished the year in the top 10 nationally in offensive rebounding.
Mballa is joined on the second team by Ishmael El-Amin from Ball State, Bowling Green's Daeqwon Plowden, Danny Pippen of Kent State, and Ben Vander Plas from Ohio.
With the elimination of divisions for the 2020-21 season, the 12 teams were ranked top to bottom beginning with Bowling Green, who received eight first place votes and 132 points. Ohio was picked second and Akron third, while the Bulls were picked fourth, receiving 109 points. Ball State was selected right behind UB in fifth.
The Bulls are set to tip off the 2020-21 regular season on Wednesday November 25 when they host Gannon. MAC play is set to begin at preseason league favorite Bowling Green on Dec. 6.
Players Mentioned
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