Saturday, January 31
Buffalo, N.Y.
2 p.m.
University at Buffalo
vs
Ohio
Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
Saturday Brawl Between the Bulls and Bobcats
1/30/2026 2:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball program (14-7, 4-5 MAC) will host the Ohio Bobcats (11-11, 5-5 MAC) on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off from Alumni Arena will be at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ with Paul Peck and Brian Koziol 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 an 89-78 road win against the Bowling Green Falcons on Tuesday evening. In the win, Ryan Sabol led the Bulls in scoring for the third straight game with 22 points while adding five assists. From three-point range, he finished 5-of-10, good for his 16th career game with at least five threes. The Bulls finished with five players in double figure scoring for just the third time this season with Angelo Brizzi (14), Tim Oboh (13), Derrick Talton Jr. (13) and Daniel Freitag (12) joining Sabol. Oboh snatched a team-high seven boards.
On Tuesday, the Bulls made a season-high 14 three-pointers against a Division I opponent, finishing 14-of-26 (53.8%). The last time they made at least 14 threes against a Division I opponent was on Jan. 18, 2025, at Western Michigan when they finished 15-of-32. Buffalo also shot 50.0% or better from the floor for the ninth time this season as they finished 29-of-52 (55.8%) against Bowling Green. In the 2018-19 season, the Bulls had 11 games with a field goal percentage of .500 or better.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Ohio Head Coach Jeff Boals, a 1995 graduate of Ohio, returned to Athens in 2019 after spending three seasons at Stonybrook from 2016-19. With the Seawolves, he guided them to a 55-41 (.573) overall record including a 24-8 record in 2018-19. He's tallied a 125-87 (.590) record at Ohio including a MAC Championship in 2021. In the NCAA Tournament, the Bobcats went on to upset 4-seed Virginia, 62-58.
• The Bobcats were selected fourth in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll. Last season, Ohio went 16-16 overall and 10-8 in conference play. They lost to Toledo in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament. Jackson Paveletzke and Javan Simmons were named to the Preseason All-MAC Team.
• The Bobcats are led by Paveletzke (17.1 ppg) and Aidan Hadaway (7.1 rpg).
THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• Ryan Sabol has been sensational over the last four games. He's averaging 23.8 ppg, the fourth-most in the MAC as his 95 points scored in this span is second in the league. The sharp three-point shooter made the most threes with 19. From the floor, he is 34-of-66 for a .515 field goal percentage including a .442 three-point percentage as he's 19-of-43. In this stretch, Sabol is the only MAC player with four 20-point performances. The last time a Bull scored 20+ in four straight came in the 2023-24 season when they did so in five straight.
• Dating back to 2004-05 on available records, this is the first time the Bulls have had six 30-point performances in a single season as Daniel Freitag has done so four times as Ryan Sabol has done it twice this season. The 2012-13 squad finished with five such performances. Over the last three previous seasons, Buffalo only had four 30-point performances.
• The Bulls have made 10+ three-pointers in seven of their last 10 games, averaging 10.8 per game. In that stretch, they're 108-of-265, good for a .408 three-point percentage. On the season, Buffalo has made at least eight three-pointers in 17 of their 21 games as they're averaging 9.7 per game.
• Ryan Sabol moved into 20th on the all-time scoring list with 1,080 points following his 22 points at Bowling Green. He passed Mitchell Watt (2008-12, 1,061), Jeremy Harris (2017-19, 1,062) and Harold Kuhn (1949-52, 1,065). Ronaldo Segu (2018-22) is currently 19th all-time with 1,115 points.
• UB has made 204 three-pointers so far this season. 36.4% of their points have come from three-point range, the best mark in the MAC.
• Ryan Sabol is the only Bull to score 10+ points in every conference game this season. He's averaging 20.3 ppg, good for fourth in the MAC.
• UB has recorded 23 20-point performances this season. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.
• Daniel Freitag leads the MAC in free throw makes and attempts with 129 and 159, respectfully. He's top-20 in the country in both categories.
• Daniel Freitag (397) and Ryan Sabol (384) have accounted for 46.5% of Buffalo's 1,680 points on the season. They are the highest scoring duo in the MAC as UMass's Leonardo Bettiol (381) and Marcus Banks (359) make up 42.1% of the Minutemen's points.
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 an 89-78 road win against the Bowling Green Falcons on Tuesday evening. In the win, Ryan Sabol led the Bulls in scoring for the third straight game with 22 points while adding five assists. From three-point range, he finished 5-of-10, good for his 16th career game with at least five threes. The Bulls finished with five players in double figure scoring for just the third time this season with Angelo Brizzi (14), Tim Oboh (13), Derrick Talton Jr. (13) and Daniel Freitag (12) joining Sabol. Oboh snatched a team-high seven boards.
On Tuesday, the Bulls made a season-high 14 three-pointers against a Division I opponent, finishing 14-of-26 (53.8%). The last time they made at least 14 threes against a Division I opponent was on Jan. 18, 2025, at Western Michigan when they finished 15-of-32. Buffalo also shot 50.0% or better from the floor for the ninth time this season as they finished 29-of-52 (55.8%) against Bowling Green. In the 2018-19 season, the Bulls had 11 games with a field goal percentage of .500 or better.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Ohio Head Coach Jeff Boals, a 1995 graduate of Ohio, returned to Athens in 2019 after spending three seasons at Stonybrook from 2016-19. With the Seawolves, he guided them to a 55-41 (.573) overall record including a 24-8 record in 2018-19. He's tallied a 125-87 (.590) record at Ohio including a MAC Championship in 2021. In the NCAA Tournament, the Bobcats went on to upset 4-seed Virginia, 62-58.
• The Bobcats were selected fourth in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll. Last season, Ohio went 16-16 overall and 10-8 in conference play. They lost to Toledo in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament. Jackson Paveletzke and Javan Simmons were named to the Preseason All-MAC Team.
• The Bobcats are led by Paveletzke (17.1 ppg) and Aidan Hadaway (7.1 rpg).
THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• Ryan Sabol has been sensational over the last four games. He's averaging 23.8 ppg, the fourth-most in the MAC as his 95 points scored in this span is second in the league. The sharp three-point shooter made the most threes with 19. From the floor, he is 34-of-66 for a .515 field goal percentage including a .442 three-point percentage as he's 19-of-43. In this stretch, Sabol is the only MAC player with four 20-point performances. The last time a Bull scored 20+ in four straight came in the 2023-24 season when they did so in five straight.
• Dating back to 2004-05 on available records, this is the first time the Bulls have had six 30-point performances in a single season as Daniel Freitag has done so four times as Ryan Sabol has done it twice this season. The 2012-13 squad finished with five such performances. Over the last three previous seasons, Buffalo only had four 30-point performances.
• The Bulls have made 10+ three-pointers in seven of their last 10 games, averaging 10.8 per game. In that stretch, they're 108-of-265, good for a .408 three-point percentage. On the season, Buffalo has made at least eight three-pointers in 17 of their 21 games as they're averaging 9.7 per game.
• Ryan Sabol moved into 20th on the all-time scoring list with 1,080 points following his 22 points at Bowling Green. He passed Mitchell Watt (2008-12, 1,061), Jeremy Harris (2017-19, 1,062) and Harold Kuhn (1949-52, 1,065). Ronaldo Segu (2018-22) is currently 19th all-time with 1,115 points.
• UB has made 204 three-pointers so far this season. 36.4% of their points have come from three-point range, the best mark in the MAC.
• Ryan Sabol is the only Bull to score 10+ points in every conference game this season. He's averaging 20.3 ppg, good for fourth in the MAC.
• UB has recorded 23 20-point performances this season. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.
• Daniel Freitag leads the MAC in free throw makes and attempts with 129 and 159, respectfully. He's top-20 in the country in both categories.
• Daniel Freitag (397) and Ryan Sabol (384) have accounted for 46.5% of Buffalo's 1,680 points on the season. They are the highest scoring duo in the MAC as UMass's Leonardo Bettiol (381) and Marcus Banks (359) make up 42.1% of the Minutemen's points.
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
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/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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