Big Men Help Bulls Beat Bowling Green, 81-67

Idbihi and Jordan both post double-doubles in UB victory

Mario Jordan

BUFFALO, NY – With the help of double-doubles from both Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) and Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) the University at Buffalo men's basketball team downed Bowling Green, 81-67, at Alumni Arena on Sunday afternoon. Both players scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Buffalo (17-11, 7-9 MAC) established successful interior play early and jumped out to an 8-0 lead. A layup by Jordan gave the Bulls a 12-4 lead. But the Falcons bounced back and outscored the Bulls, 17-2, to take a 21-14 lead with 10:30 left in the first half. UB responded with a 9-0 run of its own to take a 23-21 lead with 8:01 left in the half. The Bulls would build their first-half lead to as many as eight points before Bowling Green was able to cut the UB advantage to 37-34 at the half.

As they did in the first half, the Bulls were able to get out of the gates fast in the second half and a Parnell Smith (Indianapolis, IN/Pike) layup capped a 12-0 scoring run to start the second stanza that gave the Bulls a 49-34 lead with 15:12 remaining. A layup and free throw by Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) with 9:46 left gave the Bulls a 17-point lead - their largest of the game.

Bowling Green (9-18, 5-11 MAC) didn't go away quietly and a free throw by John Floyd cut the UB lead to 67-59 with 2:28 remaining. Following a pair of Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) free throws, Jordan silenced any Falcon comeback as he blocked a three-point attempt by Martin Samarco, chased down the rebound and raced down the court for an emphatic dunk. He was fouled on the play and the subsequent free throw put the Bulls up by 13 points and iced the game.

The Bulls were able to run backdoor cuts to the basket and were successful on the lob to the low post. The Bulls' big men, who helped UB score 40 points in the paint, were even more impressive passing the basketball as of the Bulls' 16 assists, 14 we credited to post players. Jordan and Smith led the way with five assists apiece.

Yassin Idbihi

Cage led all UB scorers with 21 points. He made a career-best 13 free throws on 14 attempts. As a team, the Bulls shot 32-for-39 from the free throw line. The 32 made free throws were the fourth most in school history.

Bowling Green was led by Samarco who tallied a game-high 23 points, including seven three-pointers. Floyd added 15 points for the Falcons.

Buffalo dominated the glass, outrebounding Bowling Green, 38-29. Jordan's 10 rebounds helped him record his first career double-double.

"I thought we rebounded the ball better and I think that was a tremendous help for us, especially at the defensive end," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "I think it came from a determination to get stops and play better defense and our defensive rebounding is a big part of that."

Buffalo will remain home and host Akron on Wednesday night. It will be the final regular season home game for seniors Cage, Jordan and Middleton. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

02/26/2006