Bulls Begin MAC Play on Saturday at Western Michigan

Saturday, December 20

Kalamazoo, Mich.

1 p.m.

University at Buffalo

Western Michigan

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics

Bulls Begin MAC Play on Saturday at Western Michigan

12/19/2025 10:01:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: Zach Monell

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball program (9-2, 0-0 MAC) closes their three-game road trip with a Mid-American Conference game at Western Michigan (5-6, 0-0 MAC) on Saturday afternoon. The Bulls and Broncos will open conference play from University Arena with tip-off at 1 p.m. on ESPN+. Josh Whetzel will be on the radio call on Buffalo 1520/Rochester 1280 and on the Varsity Network App.

This will be the 38^th all-time meeting between the Bulls and Broncos. Buffalo leads the all-time series, 21-16. In their last seven meetings on the road, the Bulls are 6-1.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bulls are coming off a heartbreaking 73-70 loss to the East Carolina Pirates on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, Buffalo dropped to 9-2 overall on the season and 3-1 in true road games on the year.

In the loss, Daniel Freitag led the Bulls with his first career double-double finishing with 31 points and 11-rebounds. This marked his second 30-point performance this season. Ryan Sabol scored 19 points where he recorded his 30th career game with 3+ three-pointers. North Carolina native Mikhail Pocknett scored seven points, but secured a game-high 13 boards. This marked his Division I career-high.

ABOUT THE BRONCOS
• Western Michigan Head Coach Dwayne Stephens is in his fourth year at the helm for the Broncos. In his time at WMU, he has posted a 37-69 (.349) record.

• The Broncos were selected 10th in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll. Last season, Western Michigan went 12-20 overall and 9-9 in conference play. They made the MAC Tournament as the 6-seed, but their season would end to the hand of the 3-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes in the Quarterfinal, 73-66.

• The Broncos are led by Jalen Griffith who is averaging 15.8 ppg and 4.6 apg. Jayden Brewer is second on the team in scoring with 13.6 ppg as he leads the team with 7.2 rpg.

THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• The Bulls are 6-1 in their last seven visits to University Arena. Last season, the Bulls led for 39:14 in their 85-76 win over the Broncos. Noah Batchelor recorded his second career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

• Buffalo is 10-8 (.556) all-time at Western Michigan. This is their best road record against any MAC program.

• Buffalo has made 218 free throws this season, the second-best mark in the MAC behind Kent State's 229. Of their 852 points this season, 25.6% have come from the free throw line, that is a conference best as Kent State (21.5%), Bowling Green (21.2%) and Northern Illinois (20.2%) are the only other schools above 20%.

• Buffalo is 31-43 (.419) all-time in the State of Michigan. Their last game in the state was on Feb. 25, 2025, when the Bulls visited the Central Michigan Chippewas. The Chippewas pulled out a home win, 73-69. UB's last win in the state was on Jan. 18, 2025, when they defeated the Western Michigan Broncos, 85-76.

• On Thursday afternoon, Daniel Freitag was named to the CollegeInsider.com Lou Henson Award Watchlist. Previous Bulls to have made the list are Javon McCrea (2014), Justin Moss (2015), CJ Massinburg (2018, 2019) and Nick Perkins (2019).

• The Bulls sit at No. 9 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll from Monday evening.

• UB has recorded 11 20-point performances this season through 11 games. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.

• Daniel Freitag is just one of six players in Division I basketball to average 20.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 2.5 apg this season.

• Angelo Brizzi leads the team with 2.18 steals per game, good for 44th in the national and second in the MAC.

• Daniel Freitag leads the Mid-American Conference in scoring with 20.5 ppg.

• Daniel Freitag (226) and Ryan Sabol (170) have accounted for 46.5% of Buffalo's 852 points on the season.

• Daniel Freitag has made the fourth-most free throws in the NCAA with 79.

• The Bulls are 2-3 all-time on Dec. 20th. They last played on this date in 2011 when they traveled to Provo, Utah to play the BYU Cougars. The Cougars won the contest, 93-78.

• In MAC openers, the Bulls are 11-16 (.407) as they head into their 28th season as a member of the conference. When they open conference play on the road, they are 4-9 (.308). Buffalo is 227-245 (.482) all-time in MAC play. Overall, against MAC teams, the Bulls are 262-286 (.478).

• A Buffalo win would give the Bulls a 10-2 start to the season and exceed last year's win total through just 12 games. The Bulls would improve to 22-16 against the Broncos. Buffalo would go to 4-1 in true road games this season.

• With a loss, the Bulls would drop to 9-3 on the season and to 21-17 against Western Michigan. They'd fall to 3-2 in true road games this season.

• Ryan Sabol recorded his 11^th game of his career with five or more three-pointers in a single game against St. Bonaventure when he went 5-for-10. He has 30 games with at least three three-pointers in his time in the blue and white.

• The Bulls sit at No. 9 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll on the evening of Monday, Dec. 15th. Teams in the poll on Buffalo's schedule are No. 3 Miami (OH), No. 8 Akron, No. 14 Kent State, RV UMass (38), Vermont (2), Bowling Green (1).

• The Bulls have recorded 8+ steals in seven of the 11 games this season. This has led to an average of 8.0 steals per game which is third in the MAC and 103rd in the NCAA. The Bulls score an average of 14.8 points off of turnovers this season.

• In the Blue Ribbon MAC Preseason Forecast, sophomore transfer Daniel Freitag was named MAC Newcomer of the Year.

• Through 11 games, the Bulls have had 11 20-point performances by four 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. Against RIT and Vermont, Freitag has scored a combined 60 points. He buried a career-high 33 points against the Catamounts. Angelo Brizzi scored a career-high 25 points against Bucknell. At Canisius, Sabol and Freitag scored 24 and 21, respectfully. Sabol then scored 21 points against St. Bonaventure. Freitag had his second 30-point performance at East Carolina where he recorded a 31-point, 11-rebound double-double.

• Junior guard Ryan Sabol is Halcovage's longest tenured player. Sabol has played in every collegiate game during his time with the Bulls, including 68 starts.

• Under Halcovage, the Bulls are 18-1 when leading with 5:00 to go.

• Since 2023-24, the Bulls are 14-1 when they score at least 80 points including a 14-game win streak. In their wins, they've outscored the opposition by an average margin of 8.4 points.

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

• Through 11 games, Noah Batchelor has the best +/- on the team at +92.

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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