Bulls Battle the VMI Keydets to Open Skechers Fort Myers Tip-Off

Monday, November 24

Fort Myers, Fla. / Suncoast Credit Union Arena

2:30 p.m.

University at Buffalo

VMI

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Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics

Bulls Battle the VMI Keydets to Open Skechers Fort Myers Tip-Off

11/23/2025 10:51:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: Zach Monell

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball program (5-0, 0-0 MAC) are on the road for three straight including six of the next seven away from Alumni Arena. The trip will begin with the Skechers Fort Myers Tip-Off on Monday afternoon against the VMI Keydets (3-4, 0-0 SoCon). Tip-off against the Keydets from Suncoast Credit Union Arena is set for 2:30 p.m. with the game being streamed on PassThaBall Live. Josh Whetzel will be on the radio call on Buffalo 1520/Rochester 1280 and on the Varsity Network App.

This will be the first meeting between the Bulls and Keydets.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulls are coming off a 94-90 victory over the Vermont Catamounts on Tuesday evening. With the win, the Bulls improved to 5-0 for just the second time in Division I history since 1991-92. The only other time the Bulls started 5-0 came in the historic 2018-19 season.

In the win, Daniel Freitag continued to be the top scorer for the Bulls as he scored a career-high 33 points with three steals. He went 4-of-9 from the three-point land. Angelo Brizzi got in on the career accolades as he scored a career-high 19 points as he went 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Ryan Sabol rounded out the Bulls who scored in double-figures as he added 13 points and a season-high five assists. Ezra McKenna led the Bulls in the +/- with +14 as he scored a season-high eight points with four boards.

ABOUT THE KEYDETS
• VMI Head Coach Andrew Wilson is in his fourth year at the helm for the Keydets. In his time at VMI, he has posted a 29-76 (.276) overall record. Prior to VMI, he spent time with Charleston (2006-12), Binghamton (2012-13), Georgia Southern (2013-20) and James Madison (2020-22).

• The Keydets were selected sixth in the 10-team league in the Southern Conference Preseason Poll. Last season, they went 15-19 overall and 7-11 in conference play.

• This year the team brings back Preseason SoCon Player of the Year Rickey Bradley Jr. (16.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg). Last season he was a third-team all-conference selection as he also earned all-tournament honors.

• The Keydets are third in the country in three-point attempts per game averaging 35.3 per game.

THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• Buffalo has forced 10+ turnovers in every game to open the season. Dating back to last season, the Bulls have forced 10+ turnovers in 13 of the last 14 games. Buffalo's +4.6 turnover margin average is third in the MAC behind Bowling Green (+10.4) and Akron (+7.4).

• The Bulls average a MAC-best 33.4 free throw attempts per game good for eighth in the country.

• Noah Batchelor leads the Bulls with the best +/- on the team at +76. Against RIT, he finished with a game-high +33 in just over 30 minutes of game action.

• Of the other seven teams making up the Palms and Beach Divisions at the Skechers Fort Myers Tip-Off, the Bulls will play five of the teams: VMI (Nov. 24); Bucknell (Nov. 26); St. Bonaventure (Dec. 6); East Carolina (Dec. 14); Bowling Green (Jan. 27).

• Daniel Freitag leads the team in scoring with 21.0 ppg. He is 29th in the country in scoring and second in the MAC. Only Jackson Paveletzke (22.0 ppg) of Ohio averages more of all MAC players.

• Daniel Freitag has accounted for 34.5% of Buffalo's points in the last two games as he has totaled 60 of the 174 points.

• Daniel Freitag's 33-point performance against the Vermont Catamounts is the second-most points scored in the MAC in a single game. Kent State's Morgan Safford scored 34 against Cornell.

• Ryan Sabol has now made 153 career three-pointers, good for eighth all-time. He is two threes away from passing Jeremy Harris (154, 2017-19) for seventh in program history.

• Per College Basketball Reference, the Bulls are 59th in Division I in offensive rating. In points produced per 100 possessions, the Bulls are averaging 120.5. This is the third best mark amongst MAC programs behind Miami (OH) (15th, 128.2) and Akron (35th, 123.9).

• The Bulls are 9-3 all-time on Nov. 24th. They last played on this date in 2021 when they played Illinois State at the Cancun Challenge. The Bulls won, 106-90. In 2018, the No. 22 Buffalo Bulls defeated the Marist Red Foxes in the opening round of the Belfast Classic, 76-49.

• A Buffalo win would give the Bulls just their second 6-0 start in their Division I modern era since 1991. The only other 6-0 start came in the 2018-19 season when the nationally ranked Bulls started 11-0. The Bulls would also win the first ever meeting against the Keydets and improve to 7-1 against SoCon opponents.

• The Bulls would drop to 5-1 on the season with a loss. Buffalo would fall to 6-2 against teams from the SoCon.

• As of Nov. 23^rd, the Bulls are just one of 39 Division I programs that are undefeated with at least five wins. They are the only MAC program that is undefeated with five wins.

• The Sunshine State hasn't been too kind to the Bulls in their history. UB is only 4-16 (.200) in the State of Florida and have lost their last four games. They last played in Florida in Nov. of 2023 for the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Bulls lost to Hofstra, Louisiana and Iona. Their last win came on Dec. 30, 2009, with an 81-64 win over the Liberty Flames at the UCF Holiday Classic.

• The Bulls check in at #24 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll on the evening of Monday, Nov. 17th. UB was unranked last week without receiving any votes. They were one of three teams to go from unranked to ranked joining #17 Loyola Marymount and #23 New Mexico State; however both programs received votes in last week's poll. Teams in the poll on Buffalo's schedule are #5 Miami (OH), #7 Akron, #16 Kent State, #18 Vermont, RV Bowling Green (13), RV UMass (10) and RV Ohio (1).

• In the Field of 68 Mid-Major Poll on Thursday, Nov. 20th, the Bulls made their debut at #7.

• Through five games, the Bulls have had six 20-point performances by three different players. To open the season, Ryan Sabol scored 32 points against Southern Miss. and then scored 20 at DePaul. Against Green Bay, both Derrick Talton Jr. and Daniel Freitag scored 21 and 20, respectfully. In UB's last two games against RIT and Vermont, Freitag has scored a combined 60 points. He buried a career-high 33 points against the Catamounts.

• Junior guard Ryan Sabol is Halcovage's longest tenured player. Sabol has played in every collegiate game during his time with the Bulls, including 62 starts.

• The Bulls have recorded 8+ steals in three consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 2nd, 5th and 9th of 2023 when they did so against St. Bonaventure (8), Butler (8) and Western Kentucky (11). The last time the Bulls had four straight games with 8+ steals was from Jan. 29-Feb. 12, 2021, when they had 46 total steals against Ohio (11), Ball State (13), Miami (OH) (10) and Western Michigan (12). On the season, they are averaging 8.8 steals per game which is 85^th in the NCAA and fifth in the MAC.

• Buffalo's Division I non-conference opponents are 30-27 (.526) this season.

• Following their win over Vermont, under Halcovage, the Bulls are 16-0 when leading with 5:00 to go.

• Since 2023-24, the Bulls are 13-1 when they score at least 80 points including a 13-game win streak. In their wins, they've outscored the opposition by an average margin of 9.0 points.

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

• Through five games, Noah Batchelor has the best +/- on the team at +76. Daniel Freitag and Angelo Brizzi are both behind Batchelor at +42 and +35 on the season, respectfully.

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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