Bulls Notch Senior Day Victory Over Miami (OH), 75-69

Tuesday, March 3

Buffalo, NY

7 pm

University at Buffalo

19-11,10-7MAC

Miami (OH)

12-18,5-12MAC

Miami (OH)

Buffalo

Bulls Notch Senior Day Victory Over Miami (OH), 75-69

3/3/2020 11:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Press Conference Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team celebrated Senior Day in style, leading wire-to-wire in a 75-69 victory over Miami (OH) on Tuesday night. The victory improved UB to 19-11 on the season and 10-7 in league play with one regular season contest to go Friday night.

Senior Gabe Grant picked up his first start of the season and got the Bulls rolling with a pair of early threes as Buffalo raced out to an 8-2 lead. A fast-break three from sophomore Jeenathan Williams increased the UB lead to 17-8 before the RedHawks came back and cut it to three. However, from there the Bulls scored 11 straight points, the last four coming from senior Antwain Johnson, as Buffalo took its largest lead of the night at 28-14 with 7:19 remaining. UB continued to lead by 12 with just 78 seconds remaining in the first half, but Miami closed it out on a 6-0 run as Buffalo took a 37-31 lead into the break.

The Bulls regained a double-digit lead early in the second half as a layup from junior Jayvon Graves put Buffalo in front, 43-33. UB led by as many as 11 in the second half, but Miami fought their way back as pair of free throws pulled the RedHawks within one at 54-53 with 7:58 left.

Miami again pulled within one with 4:19 remaining, but the Bulls managed to score the next six points, increasing their lead to 69-62. The RedHawks never got any closer than four for the remainder of the game.

"I thought we were really sharp in the first half other than those two breakdowns late," said head coach Jim Whitesell. "We had a good start to the second half, but give Miami a lot of credit, they played us tough and they wouldn't go away. In our league, its week by week and game by game and they were coming in with a lot of confidence after beating Bowling Green last week. I'm real proud of our seniors and I am glad were able to get them a win on senior night."

Five players scored in double figures led by Graves, who had 15 points and nine rebounds. It was a big second half for the junior as he had just two points at the break.

On his senior night and his 133^rd career game Davonta Jordan finished with 11 points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals, and two blocked shots.

Grant finished with 10 points as did Johnson. Sophomore Josh Mballa recorded another double-double off the bench with 10 points and 14 rebounds. He had nine points and 10 rebounds in the second half alone.

Williams, who came off the bench for the first time this season to allow the seniors to start, finished with nine points, while Ronaldo Segu added six.

With the game in hand in the final seconds, the Bulls were able to get two other seniors in the game as walk-ons Patrick Moore and Giambattista Davis saw the final seconds of action.

After getting outrebounded for two straight games, the Bulls were back on the positive front in rebounding, as they held a 46-37 advantage over Miami.

The Bulls will close out the regular season on Friday night when they head to Bowling Green for a 6pm start that will air nationally on ESPNU. Final seedings for the upcoming MAC tournament will be unveiled at the conclusion of Friday night's action.