MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

BUFFALO, NY ­ Perhaps the most anticipated night of basketball in UB's Mid-American Conference history will take place at 7 pm on Monday at Alumni Arena. A crowd of 8,000-plus is expected to be on hand for Buffalo's first round MAC Tournament game against the Northern Illinois Huskies.

Turner Battle

Earning the fifth seed in the MAC Tournament, UB received a first-round home game against the 12th-seeded Huskies. In late January, Buffalo won at Northern Illinois by an 85-73 score. Six Bulls reached double figures in that contest, including junior point guard Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth), who led all scorers with 17 points.

UB (16-11, 11-7 MAC) closed out the regular season with seven consecutive victories, of which only two were decided by single digits. One of those though, was Buffalo's 68-60 win at Akron in Saturday's regular season finale.

The Bulls' perimeter offense has been dynamic of late, having cashed in on 47 of their 93 three-point attempts (50.5 percent) in the last four games. Sophomore Calvin Cage (Capital Heights, MD/Bladensburg) has led the way, hitting on 14 of his 27 three-point shots (51.9 percent) during that stretch.

Buffalo's 74.1 points per game ranks third-best in the MAC. The Bulls also sit third in the conference in rebounding (36.1 boards per game), although the Huskies rank fourth in that same category (36.0 rebounds per contest).

Calvin Cage

Northern Illinois (10-19, 5-13 MAC) ended the season with a 93-61 loss at Western Michigan, but had won its previous three contests (Miami, at Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan). Senior forward Marcus Smallwood leads the Huskies with averages of 14.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

The Huskies have gone just 1-12 on the road this season.

Despite losing to UB earlier this season, Northern Illinois still holds an all-time 12-4 edge in the all-time series. The only previous MAC Tournament match-up between the two schools came last year, with the Huskies posing an 81-64 home win over Buffalo. UB entered that contest as the 13-seed, while Northern Illinois was seeded fourth.