Bulls Host RIT on Saturday Morning

Saturday, November 15

Buffalo, N.Y.

11 a.m.

University at Buffalo

RIT

Tickets

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics

11/14/2025 2:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Zach Monell

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball program (3-0, 0-0 MAC) are on back home for two straight games starting on Saturday against the RIT Tigers (0-1, 0-0 Liberty League). Tip-off time against the Tigers from Alumni Arena is set for 11 a.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Paul Peck and Tony Watson on the call. Josh Whetzel and Bob Gaughan will be on the radio call on Buffalo 1520/Rochester 1280 and on the Varsity Network App.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulls are coming off a 66-53 victory over the DePaul Blue Demons of the BIG EAST Conference on Tuesday evening. With the win, the Bulls improved to 3-0 for just the second time in Division I history since 1991-92. The only other time the Bulls started 3-0 came in the historic 2018-19 season.

In the win, Ryan Sabol had a game-high 20 points as Daniel Freitag added 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Angelo Brizzi scored 14 points as he and Sabol knocked down a trio of three-pointers each. Noah Batchelor continued to be a force at the basket as he secured six rebounds. He added season-high marks with three assists and three steals. Mikhail Pocknett had a season-high five points, six rebounds and three steals. The Bulls drew 22 fouls bringing their season total to 74 through three games.

Buffalo forced 20 turnovers at DePaul, their most against a non-conference Division I team since Nov. 12, 2022, when they forced James Madison to turn the ball over 26 times. The last time the Bulls did so against a Division I opponent was on Feb. 21, 2023, against Central Michigan when they had 23 turnovers.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• RIT Head Coach Dominic Parker is in his second year at the helm for the Tigers. He has posted an overall record of 7-19 during his time at RIT. To start the season, they lost to Nazareth on a buzzer beater.

• Graduate forward Josiah Turner led the Tigers in scoring (12.8 ppg) and rebounds (6.7 rpg) last season.

• The Tigers were selected tied for eighth in the 10-team Liberty League Preseason Poll.

• After one game, RIT's field goal defense is 11th in all of Division III as they only allowed Nazareth to shoot .328 from the floor.

THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• The Bulls average a MAC-best 34.7 free throw attempts per game; the next closest conference team is Kent State at 30.0. UB is seventh in the nation to the Golden Flashes' 36th in attempts per game.

• Noah Batchelor leads the Bulls with the best +/- on the team at +42. Against DePaul, he was held scoreless, but still finished with a game-high +16.

• After opening the season with four of five games at home, following their two-game home stand, the Bulls will be away from Alumni Arena for six of the next seven including a trip to Florida for the Skechers Fort Myers Tip-Off.

• Ryan Sabol is 50th in the country in scoring with 20.3 ppg. This mark is third in the MAC behind Kent State's Morgan Safford (21.3 ppg) and Bowling Green's Javontae Campbell (20.7 ppg).

• Ryan Sabol has now made 152 career three-pointers, good for eighth all-time. He is three threes away from passing Jeremy Harris (154, 2017-19) for seventh in program history.

• Ryan Sabol's 11 three-pointers is 42nd in the nation and second in the MAC. Morgan Safford of Kent State leads the league as he has made 16 threes so far this season.

• The Bulls and the Miami RedHawks are the only MAC programs to return their leading scorers and rebounders from last season.

• The Bulls are 6-2 all-time on Nov. 15th. They last played on this date last season when they hosted Roberts Wesleyan in 2023. The Bulls won by a score of 89-83, which marked Head Coach George Halcovage III's first career win. In the 2022-23 season, UB played at No. 25 UConn. The Bulls fell to the eventual National Champions, 84-64.

• A Buffalo win would give the Bulls just their second 4-0 start in their Division I modern era since 1991. The only other 4-0 start came in the 2018-19 season when the nationally ranked Bulls started 11-0. The Bulls would also improve to 3-2 over RIT. UB would improve to 25-0 over non-Division I opponents since 1991.

• With a loss, the Bulls would drop to 3-1 on the season and it would be their first loss to a non-Division I opponent in their Division I history since the 1991-92 season.

• Through three games, the Bulls have had four 20-point performances by three different players. To open the season, Ryan Sabol scored 32 points against Southern Miss. Against Green Bay, both Derrick Talton Jr. and Daniel Freitag scored 21 and 20, respectfully. In UB's last game at DePaul, Sabol scored a game-high 20 points.

• Buffalo's upcoming Division I non-conference opponents are 17-6 (.739) this season.

• Following their win over DePaul, under Halcovage, the Bulls are 14-0 when leading with 5:00 to go.

• Since 2023-24, the Bulls are 11-1 when they score at least 80 points including an 11-game win streak. In their wins, they've outscored the opposition by an average margin of 8.8 points.

• UB is just seven wins away from reaching program win no. 1,300. They would be the final MAC school to reach this milestone.

• Unlike last year when the Bulls had eight freshmen on the roster, they brought in six transfers to Buffalo. Ezra McKenna (Mobile), Derrick Talton Jr. (Oklahoma Wesleyan) and Angelo Brizzi (Longwood) are all grad transfers. Kyle Jones (St. Thomas Aquinas) is a red-shirt junior as Mikhail Pocknett (King) and Daniel Freitag are a junior and sophomore, respectfully. In total, they've scored a combined 4,908 points in their college careers. They have also combined for a 352-158 overall record and a .690 win percentage.

• Ryan Sabol, who posted 14.4 points per game and knocked down 79 3-pointers, comes back to Buffalo as Head Coach George Halcovage III's only third-year player. During his sophomore campaign, Sabol became the fastest player in program history to 100 made 3-pointers as he did so in just 42 games. He's currently eighth all-time in made threes with 148.

• Headed into last season, the Bulls only had 188 collegiate games of experience played as they welcomed eight freshmen. This year the Bulls have 600 games played in college, good for a 412-game difference. The only other program with a biggest difference in games played was San Diego as they went from 425 games played in 2024-25 to 900 this season, a difference of 475.

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.

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