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BUFFALO, NY - A pair of red-hot Western New York college basketball teams will be getting together at 7:30 pm on Saturday at Niagara University's Gallagher Center. UB has won three straight - including a 72-49 shellacking of Colgate on Tuesday - to even its record at 3-3, while Niagara's Purple Eagles are off to a 4-0 start this season. Niagara was ranked 24th in the latest edition of CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.

All five Purple Eagles' starters are averaging in double figures, led by junior guard David Brooks' 21.8 points per game. In total, Niagara has averaged 93.5 points per game - a total which ranks third best in the nation.

"They score an awful lot of points - that's well-documented," said UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon of the Purple Eagles' offense. "From our standpoint, we have to defend. We have to be able to apply what we do defensively in a way that will disrupt what they want to do offensively."

During each of their last three wins, the Bulls have won by at least 18 points. UB's latest victory over Colgate snapped a 23-game road-losing streak.

Turner Battle

Buffalo - which last won four straight games during the 1996-97 season - was led by junior point guard Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) in that contest with 18 points. On the season, Battle has recorded 11.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Niagara has averaged a shade over 1,800 fans at its two home games, but on Saturday a capacity crowd near 2,400 is expected to be on hand.

"It will probably be pretty crazy," Witherspoon projected of the game's atmosphere. "It could be a pretty mixed crowd. It is a smaller gym and I am sure it will be loud in there."

The Purple Eagles hold a 53-22 all-time series edge in the 89-year rivalry, however UB took the schools' lone meeting last year by a 75-64 score.