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Saturday, January 3
Buffalo, N.Y.
2 p.m.
University at Buffalo
vs
Ball State
Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
Bulls Host Ball State in Saturday Matinee
1/2/2026 3:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball program (12-2, 2-0 MAC) will open 2026 with a home contest against the Ball State Cardinals (4-9, 0-1 MAC) on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off from Alumni Arena will be at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ with Paul Peck and Pete Lonergan 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 solid 81-67 road victory over the Northern Illinois Huskies on New Year's Eve. With the win, Buffalo improved to 12-2 overall on the season and 7-1 in games away from Alumni Arena on the season.
In the win, Daniel Freitag led the barrage with 33 points, tying his career high mark from earlier in the season against Vermont. His performance is tied for the ninth-most points scored in program history in a road game. He joined Blake Hamilton (Akron, 1/28/17) and Jayvon Graves (Kent State – 2OT, 2/21/20) for ninth. Ryan Sabol added 14 points as Ezra McKenna buried 11 including going 3-for-4 from deep.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
• Ball State Head Coach Michael Lewis has spent his entire head coaching career with the Cardinals. He is in his fourth season with Ball State and holds a 53-54 (.495) overall record. Prior to his arrival at Ball State, Lewis spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach, including three at UCLA.
• The Cardinals were selected eighth in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll. Last season, Ball State went 6-25 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
• The Cardinals spread the wealth on offense as Davion Hill (10.8 ppg), Armoni Zeigler (9.9 ppg) and Devon Barnes (8.5 ppg) lead the team in scoring. Zeigler leads the Cardinals with 5.1 rpg.
THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• Daniel Freitag led the team (including ties) in points (33), rebounds (5), steals (2) and blocks (1) at Northern Illinois.
• Ryan Sabol was named MAC Player of the Week on Dec. 29th following his 31-point performance. This marked his first MAC honor in his career.
• Dating back to 2004-05 on available records, this is the second time in program history the Bulls have had five 30-point performances in a season tying the 2012-13 squad. Over the last three previous seasons, Buffalo only had four such performances. Daniel Freitag has done so three times as Ryan Sabol has done it twice this season.
• For the first time in the program's history, the Bulls have made at least 11 three-pointers in three consecutive games. They've gone 37-for-85 over those games, shooting 43.5% from deep.
• The Bulls are seeking their fourth 3-0 start in MAC play and their first since 2018-19 when they started 5-0.
• Derrick Talton Jr. surpassed the 1,600-point mark in his career with four points at Northern Illinois on Wednesday.
• Buffalo and Akron are the only MAC teams in the top-3 in offensive and defensive field goal percentage in conference play. The Bulls are shooting .491 from the field and holding their opponents to .402, as Akron has a field goal percentage of .549 while limiting the opposition to .391 from the floor.
• Buffalo has made 260 free throws this season, the best mark in the MAC behind. Of their 1,113 points this season, 23.4% have come from the free throw line, that is a conference best as Kent State (21.2%), Northern Illinois (21.2%) and Bowling Green (20.4%) are the only other schools above 20%.
• The Bulls sit at No. 9 in the most recent College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll.
• Through two MAC games, the Bulls have the second-best margin of victory at +15.5 behind Akron's +21.0.
• UB has recorded 14 20-point performances this season. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.
• Daniel Freitag is averaging 26.5 ppg in MAC play. He's behind Toledo's Leroy Blyden Jr. (36.0 ppg) and Eastern Michigan's Carlos Hart (27.5 ppg).
• Daniel Freitag leads the country in free throw makes and attempts with 91 and 119, respectfully.
• Daniel Freitag (287) and Ryan Sabol (234) have accounted for 46.8% of Buffalo's 1,113 points on the season.
• A Buffalo win would give the Bulls a 13-2 start to the season and a 3-0 start in conference play for the first time since the 2018-19 season when they started 5-0. This would be their fourth time starting 3-0 as they also did so in 2017-18 (8-0) and 2009-10 (3-0). They'd take the conference series lead at 19-18 with a victory.
• Ryan Sabol recorded his 13th game of his career with five or more three-pointers in a single game against Penn State Behrend when he went 7-for-8, tying his career-high in made three-pointers for the fourth time. He has 32 games with at least three three-pointers in his time in the blue and white.
• On Dec. 18th, 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). This award goes to the top mid-major basketball player.
• Following his 31-point performance against Penn State Behrend, Ryan Sabol surpassed the 900-point mark in his career. He became the 36th Bull to reach 900 points. He's currently at 930 points in the blue and white.
• On the season, Ryan Sabol has the best +/- on the team at +121. Daniel Freitag is just behind at +117 with Noah Batchelor third with +112.
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.
LAST TIME OUT
The Bulls are coming off a solid 81-67 road victory over the Northern Illinois Huskies on New Year's Eve. With the win, Buffalo improved to 12-2 overall on the season and 7-1 in games away from Alumni Arena on the season.
In the win, Daniel Freitag led the barrage with 33 points, tying his career high mark from earlier in the season against Vermont. His performance is tied for the ninth-most points scored in program history in a road game. He joined Blake Hamilton (Akron, 1/28/17) and Jayvon Graves (Kent State – 2OT, 2/21/20) for ninth. Ryan Sabol added 14 points as Ezra McKenna buried 11 including going 3-for-4 from deep.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
• Ball State Head Coach Michael Lewis has spent his entire head coaching career with the Cardinals. He is in his fourth season with Ball State and holds a 53-54 (.495) overall record. Prior to his arrival at Ball State, Lewis spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach, including three at UCLA.
• The Cardinals were selected eighth in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll. Last season, Ball State went 6-25 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
• The Cardinals spread the wealth on offense as Davion Hill (10.8 ppg), Armoni Zeigler (9.9 ppg) and Devon Barnes (8.5 ppg) lead the team in scoring. Zeigler leads the Cardinals with 5.1 rpg.
THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• Daniel Freitag led the team (including ties) in points (33), rebounds (5), steals (2) and blocks (1) at Northern Illinois.
• Ryan Sabol was named MAC Player of the Week on Dec. 29th following his 31-point performance. This marked his first MAC honor in his career.
• Dating back to 2004-05 on available records, this is the second time in program history the Bulls have had five 30-point performances in a season tying the 2012-13 squad. Over the last three previous seasons, Buffalo only had four such performances. Daniel Freitag has done so three times as Ryan Sabol has done it twice this season.
• For the first time in the program's history, the Bulls have made at least 11 three-pointers in three consecutive games. They've gone 37-for-85 over those games, shooting 43.5% from deep.
• The Bulls are seeking their fourth 3-0 start in MAC play and their first since 2018-19 when they started 5-0.
• Derrick Talton Jr. surpassed the 1,600-point mark in his career with four points at Northern Illinois on Wednesday.
• Buffalo and Akron are the only MAC teams in the top-3 in offensive and defensive field goal percentage in conference play. The Bulls are shooting .491 from the field and holding their opponents to .402, as Akron has a field goal percentage of .549 while limiting the opposition to .391 from the floor.
• Buffalo has made 260 free throws this season, the best mark in the MAC behind. Of their 1,113 points this season, 23.4% have come from the free throw line, that is a conference best as Kent State (21.2%), Northern Illinois (21.2%) and Bowling Green (20.4%) are the only other schools above 20%.
• The Bulls sit at No. 9 in the most recent College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll.
• Through two MAC games, the Bulls have the second-best margin of victory at +15.5 behind Akron's +21.0.
• UB has recorded 14 20-point performances this season. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.
• Daniel Freitag is averaging 26.5 ppg in MAC play. He's behind Toledo's Leroy Blyden Jr. (36.0 ppg) and Eastern Michigan's Carlos Hart (27.5 ppg).
• Daniel Freitag leads the country in free throw makes and attempts with 91 and 119, respectfully.
• Daniel Freitag (287) and Ryan Sabol (234) have accounted for 46.8% of Buffalo's 1,113 points on the season.
• A Buffalo win would give the Bulls a 13-2 start to the season and a 3-0 start in conference play for the first time since the 2018-19 season when they started 5-0. This would be their fourth time starting 3-0 as they also did so in 2017-18 (8-0) and 2009-10 (3-0). They'd take the conference series lead at 19-18 with a victory.
• Ryan Sabol recorded his 13th game of his career with five or more three-pointers in a single game against Penn State Behrend when he went 7-for-8, tying his career-high in made three-pointers for the fourth time. He has 32 games with at least three three-pointers in his time in the blue and white.
• On Dec. 18th, 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). This award goes to the top mid-major basketball player.
• Following his 31-point performance against Penn State Behrend, Ryan Sabol surpassed the 900-point mark in his career. He became the 36th Bull to reach 900 points. He's currently at 930 points in the blue and white.
• On the season, Ryan Sabol has the best +/- on the team at +121. Daniel Freitag is just behind at +117 with Noah Batchelor third with +112.
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
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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