MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Calvin Cage

BUFFALO, NY ­ The University at Buffalo men's basketball team proved that it is a force to be reckoned with in the Mid-American Conference with an 82-66 throttling of Kent State at Alumni Arena on Wednesday night. The 6,176 fans in attendance, all clad in royal blue for UB's "Sea of Blue" promotion, counted down the final seconds and stormed the court as the Bulls handed the Golden Flashes only their second conference loss of the season and fourth loss overall. The Bulls also snapped Kent State's 10-game winning streak.

It was a total team effort for UB who had four players finish in double-figures in the scoring column. Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) led the way with a career-high 22 points. Calvin Cage (Capital Heights, MD/Bladensburg) was a spark off the bench for the Bulls with a season-high 18 points. MAC All-Freshman candidate Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) tallied 16 points. All three players drained four three-pointers. As a team, Buffalo (13-11, 8-7) knocked down 14 three-pointers - the second-most in school history.

It was a seesaw battle early on with both teams holding brief leads. A three-pointer by Bryan Bedford gave Kent State a 16-13 lead with 14:14 left in the half. A triple by Gilbert tied the game and sparked a 13-2 scoring run that gave the Bulls a 28-18 lead. Buffalo extended its lead to 42-31 at halftime.

A Bedford three-pointer cut the Buffalo lead to 48-40 with 15:53 remaining. However, back-to-back treys by Cage quickly boosted the UB lead back to 14 points. The Bulls then fed the Golden Flashes a steady diet of three-pointers as their next five buckets were of the three-point variety. A layup by Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) extended the Bulls' lead to 20 points with 2:57 remaining.

Daniel Gilbert

Battle, the Bulls' floor leader, had one of the best overall games of his career. The junior point guard finished the night with 13 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.

Kent State was led by Bedford who scored 18 points, including four three-pointers. Jason Edwin and DeAndre Haynes chipped in with 14 and 11 points, respectively. The Golden Flashes, the MAC's best three-point shooting team, were held to 8-for-26 shooting from beyond the arc.

Buffalo shot 55.8 percent (29-52) from the floor, including 56 percent (14-25) from long distance. The Bulls outrebounded Kent State, 32-28. UB did a great job neutralizing Kent State's best player John Edwards, holding the seven-foot center to six points and four rebounds.

With the win, Buffalo became the only school in the Mid-American Conference to beat Kent State twice in the last three years. UB topped Kent State, 66-65, at Alumni Arena during the 2001-02 season. It was UB's fourth straight win and eighth victory in the last 10 games. It was also the Bulls' 13th win of the season, their most since joining the MAC in 1998.

"For us to get the support from our students the way we did, it really played a big part in our energy," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said referring to the second largest crowd in Alumni Arena history. "Offensively, we were pretty poised and I think that was one of the things that allowed us to sustain the lead during the second half."