Bulls Travel to Akron for Friday Night MACtion

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (2-13, 1-2 MAC) will travel to the Akron Zips (11-4, 3-0 MAC) for a Friday night showdown at 7 p.m. The matchup between the Bulls and Zips will be the only MAC game on Friday and can be seen on CBSSN. Over on the Varsity Network App and on 1520 Buffalo/1280 Rochester AM, Josh Whetzel will be on the call.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulls are coming off an 86-65 loss against the Miami (OH) RedHawks on Tuesday evening. Ryan Sabol recorded his third straight game scoring in double figures, finishing with 14 points. Shawn Fulcher was the leading scorer for the Bulls as he finished with a career-high 20 points. Fulcher finished 9-for-15 from the floor and added three assists. Jonnivius Smith and Zaakir Williamson led all players with five rebounds apiece.

ABOUT THE SERIES
The Bulls trail the all-time series against the Zips, 34-39 (.466). In just conference play, Akron leads the series, 23-21. The Zips have ben victorious in five straight meetings with Buffalo's last win coming on March 12, 2021, with an 81-74 decision in the MAC Tournament. The Bulls' last road win against the Zips was on Jan. 28, 2020, 77-74.

THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• Friday's game at Akron will start a stretch of road games for the Bulls. Seven of their next nine and four of their next five games will be away from Alumni Arena.

• Shawn Fulcher recorded his first 20-point performance in Bulls uniform on Tuesday against the Miami (OH) RedHawks. This marked the eighth time this season a Bulls scored at least 20 points.

• Sy Chatman has scored in double figures in 14 of 15 games for the Bulls this season. The only game he didn't was against Miami (OH) when he finished with six points. His 17.9 points per game is good for sixth in the MAC. The fifth year forward has also averages 6.6 rebounds per game which is seventh in the MAC.

• The matchup between the Bulls and Zips will feature the top two rebounders in the conference. Buffalo's Jonnivius Smith leads the team with 9.2 rebounds per game, which ranks 38th in the NCAA and second in the MAC just behind Akron's Enrique Freeman (13.0).

• Sy Chatman has scored 20+ in six of the last eight games. Over the course of those games, he's averaged 20.38 points per game including three double-doubles. The last Bull to have 20+ points in five of six games was Rodney Pierce in 2009-10 when he did it in eight straight.

• Freshman Ryan Sabol leads the team with 31 made three-pointers on the season. He has made at least one three in 14 of the 15 games of the season. In the MAC opener, Sabol was 5-for-8 from three-point range which marked a career-high of made threes. The last Bull to make five threes in a game was Curtis Jones against Western Michigan on Feb. 4, 2023.

• Only Sy Chatman has started every game for the Bulls. Ryan Sabol, Anquan Boldin Jr. and Shawn Fulcherr are the only other Bulls to play in every game.

• Shawn Fulcher leads the team with 1.53 steals per game, good for fourth in the MAC.

• Sy Chatman and Jonnivius Smith are the only duo in the MAC to each have at least four double-doubles.

UP NEXT
Buffalo will stay on the road as they'll play the Toledo Rockets on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Bulls Travel to Akron for Friday Night MACtion

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Players Mentioned

Anquan Boldin Jr.

Sy Chatman

Shawn Fulcher

Curtis Jones

Ryan Sabol

Jonnivius Smith

Zaakir Williamson

University at Buffalo Athletics