Bulls Fall in MAC Opener to Miami

Saturday, January 4

Oxford, Ohio

1 p.m.

5-8,0-1MAC

Miami (OH)

9-4,1-0MAC

Buffalo

Miami (OH)

Photo by: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics

1/4/2025 4:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Zach Monell

OXFORD, Ohio – It was a three-point contest in Millet Hall on Saturday afternoon to open conference play between the Bulls and RedHawks. The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (5-8, 0-1 MAC) fell to the Miami RedHawks (9-4, 1-0 MAC) on Sunday afternoon, 93-79.

Buffalo and Miami combined for 27 three-pointers, but the RedHawks made 17 despite excellent ball pressure. It was the first time Buffalo made 10 threes since at Notre Dame (11/11/24) when they made 11. The Bulls outshot the RedHawks from the floor, 50.9% to 45.1%, but Miami ended up with 16 more shots from the floor.

After scoring a combined 10 points over the last two games, Ryan Sabol got back on track. He led all players with 25 points on the afternoon as he recorded his sixth career 20-point performance and his fourth on the season. Sabol was 8-for-11 from the floor while going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Tyson Dunn had his third game of the year with 20 points. He added 6 assists as he's now up to 72 on the season.

This is the second time this season that two Bulls finished with at least 20 points. Sabol recorded 28 points as Anquan Boldin Jr. scored 22 points against Fredonia (11/8/24).

Defensively, Ben Michaels had a career-high and team season-high 3 blocks. Sabol had a game-high 3 steals.

"I thought we did a really good job earlier in the game for the most part on both ends of the floor," stated Head Coach George Halcovage III. "We knew they were a high-powered offense that shot the three really well. The last four minutes of the first half did not go our way. We did not close out the half we would have liked to, and we gave them a little bit of an extended lead. When they [Miami] hit that first three in the second half, it just felt like we put ourselves in a hole that we were playing catch up the rest of the half. To our guys' credit, they battled to the end and came back to give us a chance."

The Bulls are back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 7 as they host the Ohio Bobcats at 7 p.m.

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