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Bulls Drop Road Contest at Ball State, 67-60

Yassin Idbihi

Buffalo (15-8, 5-7 MAC) was led by Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) who notched his fourth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bulls were successful in running their offense early and jumped out to a 10-4 lead. Buffalo played mostly zone defense in the first half which took away inside looks for Ball State. However, the Cardinals knocked down five three-pointers in the first stanza – their fifth trey giving them a 31-25 halftime lead.

Ball State (8-12, 4-8 MAC) opened the second half by scoring five unanswered points to take an 11-point lead early in the second stanza. A lay-up by Andy Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) cut the Ball State lead to 40-35 with 11:03 remaining.

The Bulls whittled the lead to four points on a pair of free throws by Idbihi with 8:42 left in the game. However, Ball State scored seven unanswered points to regain an 11-point advantage. A three-pointer by Parnell Smith (Indianapolis, IN/Pike) cut the Ball State lead to six points with 5:11 remaining, but that would be as close as the Bulls would get.

Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) was the only other UB player to score in double-figures as he notched 13 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Robinson had a nice game off the bench for the Bulls as the freshman tallied five points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 19 minutes.

Buffalo dominated the glass, outrebounding Ball State, 38-25. Idbihi pulled down 10 rebounds, marking the fourth time this season that he reach double-digits in the rebound column. He also tied a career high with four blocked shots.

Ball State was led by Skip Mills. The conference’s third-leading scorer notched a career-high 27 points, including five three-pointers. Maurice Aker added 15 points, five rebounds and six assists for the Cardinals.

“We can’t come out and win a game giving up 30-plus points off of our turnovers,” head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. “The young men on our team have to take ownership of that and until they do that mentally, it’s not going to happen physically.”

Buffalo will next play at Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 pm.