MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

OXFORD, OH ­ Senior Darcel Williams (Buffalo, NY/Traditional) scored a game-high 24 points and Buffalo shot 55 percent from the field but it wasn't enough to overcome 23 UB turnovers and a season-high 28 fouls as Miami knocked off the Bulls, 78-68, at Millett Hall on Monday night. Miami, which was called for nine less fouls, capitalized at the free throw line converting 27-of-36 attempts, with 21 of those uncontested points coming in the second half.

Darcel Williams

The loss dropped the Bulls to 12-16 overall and 7-10 in the Mid-American Conference. Miami improved to 12-16 overall and 9-8 in the MAC. The Bulls will play their final regular season game of the year at Bowling Green on Wednesday, February 27, at 7 p.m. Buffalo is currently a half-game back of Northern Illinois for eighth place in the conference standings and a win at Bowling Green would put Buffalo in a good position to host a first-round MAC Tournament game on March 4 given the fact that UB holds the tiebreaker over the Huskies.

Buffalo built up an eight-point first-half lead in the opening 13:26 behind nine straight points by Williams. However, the RedHawks battled back and cut the lead to two points on a three-pointer by Juby Johnson and a free throw by Doug Davis with :14 left. Then, as time expired in the half, Alex Shorts tipped in a missed jumper by Eugene Seals to tie the game at 30-30.

After UB took an early lead in the second half, Miami scored off a dunk and a lay-up to take a 40-37 lead five minutes into the half. Buffalo responded on the ensuing possession as senior Robert Brown (Detroit, MI/Oak Park) drained a three-pointer to tie the game before the RedHawks followed with a 22-7 run over the next 9:39 to grab its largest advantage of the game, 58-45. The Bulls tried to close the gap but Miami converted 14-of-18 free throws to close the game.

"We shot the ball well enough to win, our half-court defense we played well enough to win, but when you start to turn the ball over that many times it's going to catch up to you," said Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We turned the basketball over in critical times. We have got to be more aggressive. If there is contact on those plays (in the post) we've got to get the best of that contact so the ball doesn't come out."

Williams recorded his 10th double-double of the season for Buffalo, grabbing 10 rebounds to go with his 24 points, which came off 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 from three-point range.

"He moved pretty well without the basketball," said Witherspoon of Williams. "He made himself difficult to guard. We got some good looks for him early on."

Senior Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) finished with 11 points and five assists, Brown had eight points and freshman Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) added seven points and four assists for Buffalo.