Tuesday, February 24
Akron, Ohio
7 p.m.
University at Buffalo
at
Akron
Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
Bulls Travel to Akron for Tuesday Slate
2/23/2026 1:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball program (16-11, 6-8 MAC) will travel to Akron, Ohio to play the Akron Zips (22-5, 13-1 MAC) on Tuesday evening. Tip-off from James A. Rhodes Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Josh Whetzel 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 resilient 86-82 road overtime win over the UMass Minutemen on Saturday. The Bulls trailed by as many as 12 in the first half, but came out with a win in their first trip to the Mullins Center. Angelo Brizzi scored a game-high 27 points as he went 7-of-15 from the floor, 4-of-5 from three and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Ryan Sabol recorded his first double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 assists. Noah Batchelor drained a career-high five threes as he finished 5-of-9 from deep for 15 points. Tim Oboh added 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds as Derrick Talton Jr. scored 11 points with three steals. This marked the third time the Bulls had five players score in double figures this season.
In Saturday's win, UMass shot 51.7% from the field. This marked the Bulls' sixth win of the season when a team shot 50.0% or better, tied for the most in the country with UC Santa Barbara.
The Bulls shot 50.0% from three-point range at UMass on Saturday, going 12-of-24. This was the 12th time this season the Bulls have made 10+ threes in a game.
ABOUT THE ZIPS
• Akron Head Coach John Groce is in his ninth season with the Zips where he's led them to a 190-93 (.671) overall record. Prior to his time in Akron, he spent five seasons at Illinois (2012-17) and four seasons at Ohio (2008-12). In his career, he holds an overall record of 372-225 (.623). He is 9-8 against Buffalo in his career. He has guided the Zips to two MAC Tournament Championships over the last three seasons.
• The Zips were selected first in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll with 143 points and 11 first place votes. They also received eight MAC Tournament Championship votes. Tavari Johnson, Evan Mahaffey and Shamah Scott were named to the Preseason All-MAC Team.
• The Zips are led by Tavari Johnson (20.5 ppg) and Amani Lyles (15.0 ppg & 7.3 rpg).
THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• Sitting with 94 made three-pointers this season, Ryan Sabol is tied with Mike Martinho (1995-96) for third-most threes made in a single season. With three threes against Akron, he will tie Zach Filzen's 2011-12 season with 97 threes for second.
• Ryan Sabol is third in program history with 240 three-point attempts this season. His 631 three-point attempts in his career is also the third most in program history.
• With three more assists, Ryan Sabol will be the first Bull to record a 400-point, 100-assist season since Ronaldo Segu in 2021-22. Segu earned Second-Team All-MAC honors that season.
• Ryan Sabol is the first Bull to record back-to-back 400-point seasons since Jeenathan Williams did so from 2020-22.
• Tim Oboh's sophomore campaign has shown a major improvement in MAC play from his freshman season.
• After his two steals at UMass on Saturday, Angelo Brizzi recorded Buffalo's first 50-steal season since Zid Powell did so in 2022-23 when he finished with 53. Brizzi has 50 steals on the season, the last Bull to record 60 steals in a season was Davonta Jordan in 2019-20 as he tallied 67 as he went on to earn MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
• For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the Bulls have three players with 80+ assists each. Ryan Sabol leads the way with 97 as both Daniel Freitag and Derrick Talton Jr. each have 86 assists.
• Angelo Brizzi has led the Bulls in scoring in four of the last five games where he's averaged 23.4 ppg. Last week, he led the MAC in scoring with 52 points and was the only player to score at least 25 points in back-to-back games.
• UB has made 262 three-pointers so far this season. 37.0% of their points have come from three-point range, the top mark in the MAC ahead of Akron's 36.4%.
• UB has recorded 32 20-point performances this season. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.
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 resilient 86-82 road overtime win over the UMass Minutemen on Saturday. The Bulls trailed by as many as 12 in the first half, but came out with a win in their first trip to the Mullins Center. Angelo Brizzi scored a game-high 27 points as he went 7-of-15 from the floor, 4-of-5 from three and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Ryan Sabol recorded his first double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 assists. Noah Batchelor drained a career-high five threes as he finished 5-of-9 from deep for 15 points. Tim Oboh added 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds as Derrick Talton Jr. scored 11 points with three steals. This marked the third time the Bulls had five players score in double figures this season.
In Saturday's win, UMass shot 51.7% from the field. This marked the Bulls' sixth win of the season when a team shot 50.0% or better, tied for the most in the country with UC Santa Barbara.
The Bulls shot 50.0% from three-point range at UMass on Saturday, going 12-of-24. This was the 12th time this season the Bulls have made 10+ threes in a game.
ABOUT THE ZIPS
• Akron Head Coach John Groce is in his ninth season with the Zips where he's led them to a 190-93 (.671) overall record. Prior to his time in Akron, he spent five seasons at Illinois (2012-17) and four seasons at Ohio (2008-12). In his career, he holds an overall record of 372-225 (.623). He is 9-8 against Buffalo in his career. He has guided the Zips to two MAC Tournament Championships over the last three seasons.
• The Zips were selected first in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll with 143 points and 11 first place votes. They also received eight MAC Tournament Championship votes. Tavari Johnson, Evan Mahaffey and Shamah Scott were named to the Preseason All-MAC Team.
• The Zips are led by Tavari Johnson (20.5 ppg) and Amani Lyles (15.0 ppg & 7.3 rpg).
THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• Sitting with 94 made three-pointers this season, Ryan Sabol is tied with Mike Martinho (1995-96) for third-most threes made in a single season. With three threes against Akron, he will tie Zach Filzen's 2011-12 season with 97 threes for second.
• Ryan Sabol is third in program history with 240 three-point attempts this season. His 631 three-point attempts in his career is also the third most in program history.
• With three more assists, Ryan Sabol will be the first Bull to record a 400-point, 100-assist season since Ronaldo Segu in 2021-22. Segu earned Second-Team All-MAC honors that season.
• Ryan Sabol is the first Bull to record back-to-back 400-point seasons since Jeenathan Williams did so from 2020-22.
• Tim Oboh's sophomore campaign has shown a major improvement in MAC play from his freshman season.
| FRESHMAN STATS | SOPHOMORE STATS | DIFFERENCE |
| 17.2 mpg | 22.5 mpg | +9.8 |
| 4.2 ppg | 9.9 ppg | +5.7 |
| 2.4 rpg | 5.8 rpg | +3.4 |
| .500 FG% | .614 FG% | +.114 |
| 6 blocks | 23 blocks | +17 |
| 2 games with 10+ points | 7 games with 10+ points | +5 |
• After his two steals at UMass on Saturday, Angelo Brizzi recorded Buffalo's first 50-steal season since Zid Powell did so in 2022-23 when he finished with 53. Brizzi has 50 steals on the season, the last Bull to record 60 steals in a season was Davonta Jordan in 2019-20 as he tallied 67 as he went on to earn MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
• For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the Bulls have three players with 80+ assists each. Ryan Sabol leads the way with 97 as both Daniel Freitag and Derrick Talton Jr. each have 86 assists.
• Angelo Brizzi has led the Bulls in scoring in four of the last five games where he's averaged 23.4 ppg. Last week, he led the MAC in scoring with 52 points and was the only player to score at least 25 points in back-to-back games.
• UB has made 262 three-pointers so far this season. 37.0% of their points have come from three-point range, the top mark in the MAC ahead of Akron's 36.4%.
• UB has recorded 32 20-point performances this season. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.
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.
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