Saturday, October 25
Buffalo, N.Y. / KeyBank Center
7 p.m.
66
vs
76
Syracuse
Photo by: Dani Fey | UB Athletics
Bulls Fight to the End Against Syracuse, Fall 76-66
10/25/2025 11:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (0-0, 0-0 MAC) and the Syracuse Orange (0-0, 0-0 ACC) held their exhibition at KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo on Saturday evening. The Orange pulled out a 76-66 win in front of a lively crowd.
In his first Division I game since his time at Air Force in 2021, Ezra McKenna finished with a game-high 18 points. On the night he was 4-for-6 from three-point range finishing 7-of-9 from the floor.
Noah Batchelor had a solid outing with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Tim Oboh put the Bulls on the board as Syracuse led, 3-2. The Orange extended their lead to 9-2 as they made their shots from the charity stripe. Buffalo chipped away at the 15-minute mark of the half as a pair of Batchelor made free throws made it an 11-8 Syracuse lead. Syracuse's lead reached 14 points late in the half as the Bulls turned the ball over eight times leading to 13 Orange points. A late Batchelor layup cut the deficit to 12 as at the halftime break, the Bulls trailed, 39-27.
Syracuse pushed their lead to 18 points on three separate occasions in the second half, their largest lead of the evening. Following the under-8 media timeout, the Bulls trailed, 61-49. Buffalo cut it to a single-digit game as McKenna swished in a three with 5:03 to go. Down the stretch, the momentum swayed toward the Bulls as Daniel Freitag, Ryan Sabol and McKenna made three-pointers to cut Syracuse's lead to 70-66 with 1:27 left in regulation. The Orange went 6-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch as they came away with the 76-66 victory.
QUOTING HEAD COACH GEORGE HALCOVAGE III
"It was a great atmosphere tonight down here in downtown Buffalo," stated Head Coach George Halcovage III. "Loved having all of our Bulls fans in attendance, cheering us on. They gave us great energy in the second half when we were able to make a run there and get back in the game. Credit to Syracuse, they got like anybody this time of year, they're trying to figure themselves out with a lot of new faces and they did a great job getting out to an early lead and going into half with the 12-point lead. They extended it out a little bit on us in the second half early. I'm just really proud of our guys, fight to stick in the game, and like I said, give ourselves a chance. So a lot of credit goes this guy right here [Ezra McKenna], coming off the bench and giving us huge minutes with 18 points in his time.
BUFFALO LEADERS
Ezra McKenna: 18 pts., 4 reb., 7-9 FG, 4-6 3PTFG
Noah Batchelor: 10 pts., 10 reb., 2 stl.
Derrick Talton Jr.: 5 pts., 4 asst., 3 stl.
Ryan Sabol: 8 pts.
Mikhail Pocknett: 5 pts., 3 asst.
TEAM STATS
Syracuse Orange: 48.1 FG% (25-of-55), 40.9 3PTFG% (9-of-22), 70.8 FT% (17-of-24), 40 Reb., 17 Asst., 17 TO, 5 Stl., 4 Blk.
Buffalo Bulls: 42.4 FG% (25-of-59), 33.3 3PTFG% (9-of-27), 53.8 FT% (7-of-13), 27 Reb., 13 Asst., 11 TO, 12 Stl, 1 Blk.
The Bulls begin the regular season on Monday, Nov. 3rd as they host Southern Miss. at 6:30 p.m.
For all the latest on UB men's basketball, follow @UBuffaloMBB on Twitter/X, @ubuffalo_mbb on Instagram and like the UB Men's Basketball Facebook page.
Click here for ticket information.
Click here for information on the Bulls Championship Fund and how you can help UB Athletics.
In his first Division I game since his time at Air Force in 2021, Ezra McKenna finished with a game-high 18 points. On the night he was 4-for-6 from three-point range finishing 7-of-9 from the floor.
Noah Batchelor had a solid outing with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Tim Oboh put the Bulls on the board as Syracuse led, 3-2. The Orange extended their lead to 9-2 as they made their shots from the charity stripe. Buffalo chipped away at the 15-minute mark of the half as a pair of Batchelor made free throws made it an 11-8 Syracuse lead. Syracuse's lead reached 14 points late in the half as the Bulls turned the ball over eight times leading to 13 Orange points. A late Batchelor layup cut the deficit to 12 as at the halftime break, the Bulls trailed, 39-27.
Syracuse pushed their lead to 18 points on three separate occasions in the second half, their largest lead of the evening. Following the under-8 media timeout, the Bulls trailed, 61-49. Buffalo cut it to a single-digit game as McKenna swished in a three with 5:03 to go. Down the stretch, the momentum swayed toward the Bulls as Daniel Freitag, Ryan Sabol and McKenna made three-pointers to cut Syracuse's lead to 70-66 with 1:27 left in regulation. The Orange went 6-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch as they came away with the 76-66 victory.
QUOTING HEAD COACH GEORGE HALCOVAGE III
"It was a great atmosphere tonight down here in downtown Buffalo," stated Head Coach George Halcovage III. "Loved having all of our Bulls fans in attendance, cheering us on. They gave us great energy in the second half when we were able to make a run there and get back in the game. Credit to Syracuse, they got like anybody this time of year, they're trying to figure themselves out with a lot of new faces and they did a great job getting out to an early lead and going into half with the 12-point lead. They extended it out a little bit on us in the second half early. I'm just really proud of our guys, fight to stick in the game, and like I said, give ourselves a chance. So a lot of credit goes this guy right here [Ezra McKenna], coming off the bench and giving us huge minutes with 18 points in his time.
BUFFALO LEADERS
Ezra McKenna: 18 pts., 4 reb., 7-9 FG, 4-6 3PTFG
Noah Batchelor: 10 pts., 10 reb., 2 stl.
Derrick Talton Jr.: 5 pts., 4 asst., 3 stl.
Ryan Sabol: 8 pts.
Mikhail Pocknett: 5 pts., 3 asst.
TEAM STATS
Syracuse Orange: 48.1 FG% (25-of-55), 40.9 3PTFG% (9-of-22), 70.8 FT% (17-of-24), 40 Reb., 17 Asst., 17 TO, 5 Stl., 4 Blk.
Buffalo Bulls: 42.4 FG% (25-of-59), 33.3 3PTFG% (9-of-27), 53.8 FT% (7-of-13), 27 Reb., 13 Asst., 11 TO, 12 Stl, 1 Blk.
The Bulls begin the regular season on Monday, Nov. 3rd as they host Southern Miss. at 6:30 p.m.
For all the latest on UB men's basketball, follow @UBuffaloMBB on Twitter/X, @ubuffalo_mbb on Instagram and like the UB Men's Basketball Facebook page.
Click here for ticket information.
Click here for information on the Bulls Championship Fund and how you can help UB Athletics.
Players Mentioned
Guard/Forward
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/ Men's Basketball
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Forward
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