Saturday, January 7
Buffalo, NY
12:00pm
8-7,2-0MAC
80
vs
62
Northern Illinois
4-11,0-2MAC
1
2
F
NIU
28
34
62
Buffalo
45
35
80
Photo by: Ken Smith/UBBulls.com
Bulls Trample Huskies in 80-62 Win; Improve to 2-0 in the MAC
1/7/2023 3:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (8-7, 2-0 MAC) defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies (4-11, 0-2 MAC) on Saturday afternoon, 80-62. In the win, Curtis Jones led the Bulls with 19 points and secured five rebounds. Armoni Foster (14), Isaac Jack (13), and Isaiah Adams (11) also finished in double-figures. LaQuill Hardnett started where he finished against Ohio, crashing the glass. Hardnett grabbed 12 boards against the Huskies.
With their 2-0 conference start, it marks just the sixth time in program history they've done so. The first since the historic 2018-19 season. The Bulls improve their win streak to four against the Huskies. The win also signified Head Coach Jim Whitesell's 450th career win.
Buffalo bullied their way to the glass securing 50 rebounds as NIU just had 28. 19 of the Bulls' rebounds were offensive that led to 21 second chance points.
Buffalo was hot out of the locker room. NIU grabbed their lone lead of the game at 2-0, then the Bulls made three threes in four possessions. Jones made the first three of the game, he'd finish with five on the day.
The Bulls had their largest run of the game of 10-0 early in the contest. In the run Foster drilled a three as Adams and Hardnett cleaned it up under the basket.
In the first half, Buffalo was 60.0% from the floor (18-of-30), from three (6-of-10), and from the free throw line (3-of-5). The Bulls' defense was on their game as they allowed NIU to shoot just 33.3% from the floor (11-of 33) and from beyond the arch (3-of-9). Isaac Jack led the team with 10 points at the half as they led 45-28.
The Huskies made it a 53-43 game forcing Buffalo to call a timeout with just over 12:30 left in regulation. The Bulls maintained their lead over the Huskies despite NIU shooting 45.5% (10-of-22) in the half. Buffalo struggled in the second half shooting as they were 12-of-33 (36.4%) from the floor, including just 5-of-16 (5-of-16) from three. The charity stripe wasn't kind either as they were 50.0% (6-of-12).
Zid Powell was back in action after missing time. He came off the bench and scored nine points.
"I thought our guys did a really good job, I thought they were really prepared defensively," stated Head Coach Jim Whitesell. "Angres Thorpe had the scout on them [Northern Illinois] and did a really good job of getting our team defense together. We're still a work in progress on the offensive end, but two things I did like were that we rebounded the ball well for about 32-minutes, plus our 17 assists. Those two things stand out to me as team things."
The Bulls improve to 7-0 when they score at least 80 points. They're also 8-1 when they're in the positive side of the assist-to-turnover ratio.
Buffalo is back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 10 as they play the Miami (OH) RedHawks at 7 p.m.
With their 2-0 conference start, it marks just the sixth time in program history they've done so. The first since the historic 2018-19 season. The Bulls improve their win streak to four against the Huskies. The win also signified Head Coach Jim Whitesell's 450th career win.
Buffalo bullied their way to the glass securing 50 rebounds as NIU just had 28. 19 of the Bulls' rebounds were offensive that led to 21 second chance points.
Buffalo was hot out of the locker room. NIU grabbed their lone lead of the game at 2-0, then the Bulls made three threes in four possessions. Jones made the first three of the game, he'd finish with five on the day.
The Bulls had their largest run of the game of 10-0 early in the contest. In the run Foster drilled a three as Adams and Hardnett cleaned it up under the basket.
In the first half, Buffalo was 60.0% from the floor (18-of-30), from three (6-of-10), and from the free throw line (3-of-5). The Bulls' defense was on their game as they allowed NIU to shoot just 33.3% from the floor (11-of 33) and from beyond the arch (3-of-9). Isaac Jack led the team with 10 points at the half as they led 45-28.
The Huskies made it a 53-43 game forcing Buffalo to call a timeout with just over 12:30 left in regulation. The Bulls maintained their lead over the Huskies despite NIU shooting 45.5% (10-of-22) in the half. Buffalo struggled in the second half shooting as they were 12-of-33 (36.4%) from the floor, including just 5-of-16 (5-of-16) from three. The charity stripe wasn't kind either as they were 50.0% (6-of-12).
Zid Powell was back in action after missing time. He came off the bench and scored nine points.
"I thought our guys did a really good job, I thought they were really prepared defensively," stated Head Coach Jim Whitesell. "Angres Thorpe had the scout on them [Northern Illinois] and did a really good job of getting our team defense together. We're still a work in progress on the offensive end, but two things I did like were that we rebounded the ball well for about 32-minutes, plus our 17 assists. Those two things stand out to me as team things."
The Bulls improve to 7-0 when they score at least 80 points. They're also 8-1 when they're in the positive side of the assist-to-turnover ratio.
Buffalo is back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 10 as they play the Miami (OH) RedHawks at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
NIU
UB
FG%
.382
.476
3FG%
.375
.423
FT%
.560
.529
RB
28
50
TO
10
15
STL
10
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Forward
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Forward
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