MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Bulls Fall to Hot-Shooting Bobcats, 85-72

Mario Jordan

The Bobcats came out of the gates running and built a 30-12 lead midway through the first half. Ohio held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half and led 43-29 at the break. The Bobcats drained six of their eight three-pointers in the first stanza to help establish their lead.

Ohio missed only six shots in the second half while shooting 64.7 percent from the field and built its lead to 24 points with 14:33 remaining. The Bulls tried to make a run and a three-pointer by Eric Moore (Morristown, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep) cut the Ohio advantage to 15 points with 5:54 remaining. A steal and layup by Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) would cut the lead to 12 points with 1:05 remaining, but that would be as close as the Bulls would get.

Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) played inspired basketball for the Bulls, tallying 15 points and tying a season high with nine rebounds. Cage scored 20 points to lead the UB scoring attack.

With a putback off a missed shot, Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) became just the 14th player in school history to score 1,000 points. However, it would be the lone highlight of a quiet night for the Bulls' big man as he scored eight points and added two rebounds.

Moore continued to show improvement as the freshman point guard scored eight points for the second straight game and added a career-best four steals. Chad Upshaw (Southport, CT/St. Joseph's), playing in his first collegiate basketball game after recently joining the squad from the football team, notched four points and two rebounds in seven minutes of action.

Ohio (16-8, 9-6 MAC) had four players score in double-figures led by Mychal Green who scored 21 points, including five three-pointers.

Ohio dominated the glass, outrebounding Buffalo, 40-29. The Bobcats were able to turn 12 offensive rebounds into 14 second chance points.

“We weren't nearly aggressive enough to be able to expect success in this building tonight,” head coach Reggie Witherspoon said.

Buffalo (16-11, 6-9 MAC) will return home to play Bowling Green on Sunday afternoon in a key Mid-American Conference clash as both teams are battling to host a first round playoff game in the upcoming MAC Tournament. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 pm.