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Bulls Cruise Past Ohio, 70-51

Yassin Idbihi

Buffalo (15-4, 5-3 MAC) was led by Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) who scored 22 points and added six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and three steals. Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) had his second straight big game with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Bulls pounced on the Bobcats early, taking a 20-10 lead midway through the first half. Buffalo would build its lead to as many as 16 points before settling for a 32-21 halftime lead. The Bulls' offense kept rolling in the second half as a three-pointer by Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) gave UB its largest advantage of the night at 48-28 with 12:54 remaining. A dunk by Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) gave the Bulls a 56-38 lead with 6:07 left. Ohio rattled off seven straight points to cut the UB advantage to 11 points with 4:39 remaining. But back-to-back jumpers by Idbihi put the Bulls back up by 14 points and quickly silenced the Ohio threat. A break-away dunk by Andy Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) put the exclamation point on the victory.

Buffalo's 66.7 percent shooting performance was the second best effort in school history. The Bulls shot 76.5 percent (13-for-17) in the second half alone. UB also shot 9-for-15 from behind the arc. Middleton shot 5-for-6 from long range and Cage and Idbihi each added a pair of treys.

Conversely, Ohio (12-4, 6-2 MAC) struggled to find its shot all night. The Bobcats shot 5-for-29 from three-point range. Mychal Green and Jeremy Fears each scored 13 points to lead Ohio.

Roderick Middleton

Defensively, Buffalo had nine steals and forced 21 Ohio turnovers. The Bulls were outrebounded, 26-21. Middleton led UB with seven boards.

Cage also reached double-figures in the scoring column with 12 points to go along with a team-best five assists and two steals.

But the night belonged to Idbihi. The junior big man shot 10-for-12 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc to eclipse the 20-point plateau for the fifth time this season.

Buffalo will head back out on the road and play at Kent State on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 pm.