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Bulls Look to Split Two-Game Michigan Road Trip at Western Michigan

Max Boudreau

In what will be an encounter of two premiere MAC big men, senior Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) will have the chance to prove himself against Western Michigan junior Joe Reitz. Both players may be in the running for MAC Player of the Year. Idbihi scores 15.1 points per game while hauling in an average of 9.2 rebounds, good for second in the MAC. He is coming off three straight double-doubles and has a total of eight on the year. Reitz averages 14.7 points to go along with 8.6 rebounds and is right behind Idbihi in the MAC rebounding race after an 11-rebound performance against Akron.

Both teams are coming off a road loss, as Buffalo fell at Eastern Michigan, 89-76, while Western Michigan was defeated at Akron, 69-36. Wednesday’s game may be a battle of the boards, as Buffalo and Western Michigan are one-two in rebound margin in the conference. The Bulls out-rebound their opponents by over six rebounds per contest, collecting 37 rebounds per game. The Broncos grab 35 rebounds per game, out-rebounding opponents by just over four boards a game.

The Bulls will fight to contain the Broncos’ long-range attack, as Western Michigan is the second-best three-point shooting team in the MAC at just over 38 percent on the season. The Broncos, however, are hoping to bounce back after an uncharacteristically cold shooting night in which they scored only 13 first-half points on 17.9 percent shooting (20 percent from three). Joe Reitz is the only Western Michigan player averaging in double-figures in points at 14.7, but scored only six in the loss to Akron. Sophomore guard Shawntes Gary led the way for the Broncos with eight points.

On the Bulls’ end, sophomore guard Eric Moore (Dover, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep) scored 22 points while freshman Max Boudreau (Montreal, Quebec/Champlain-St. Lambert) recorded his second-straight 11-point game in his third career start versus Eastern Michigan on Sunday night.

Tip-off is slated for 7pm. The game can be heard locally on WWKB 1520 AM or on the web at www.buffalobulls.com.

Game preview written by sophomore guard Sean Smiley