The Big Picture: Buffalo overcomes start of game siesta and countless ineffectual stretches on offense to overcome what seems to be a decent Army (5-2) side, 74-67. The win, the 1000th in the history of the program and UB’s first at Alumni Arena this season after two losses there, gets them over the .500 hump to 3-2 on the season. With a trip to West Lafayette, Indiana to play 6th-ranked Purdue looming on Saturday, the .600 winning percentage figures to be short-lived. While it was important for Coach ‘Spoon’s side to beat the Black Knights, this was another of those games at Alumni where the Bulls probably should’ve put their opponents away early in the second half and cruised to victory. Thanks to several empty possessions and hot-shooting by Army’s Julian Simmons, this game became a typical Bulls nailbiter.
What wasn’t typical was how the Bulls won. The Black Nights finished the game with 9 more buckets than UB, but the Bulls outscored them 23 points at the line, making 28 freebies to a paltry 5 for Army. While I’m certain that some poor officiating was partly responsible for that massive discrepancy, the aggressiveness of the UB frontcourt — particularly Max Boudreau, who had the first double-double of his career — was an even bigger factor. As was Army’s being forced to foul the final 2:00 of the game. After the Bulls basically lost last Tuesday’s game to Canisius because of poor foul shooting, salting this one away at the line is the proverbial shot of Jameson to end the night out.
The Good: UB took care of it’s most important order of business tonight: getting the first win of the season at home and notching a win before the tilt with Purdue win. Going to Purdue with a two-game home losing streak in tow would’ve pretty much eviscerated the Bulls’ already microscopic upset chances. So just plain old winning is good.
Beyond the win, the other highlight has to be the final 10 or so minutes of the first half when the Bulls didn’t look like the team with the second least efficient offense in the MAC (and 310th least efficient in the country). Army went to a 1-3-1 zone and the Bulls’ designated zone-busters, Sean Smiley and Zach Filzen, with some help from senior point John Boyer, did their jobs, knocking down triples and forcing Army out of the zone. I expect UB to see a lot of zone this season. Smiley and Filzen will have to make shots if UB is going to be, at the very least, marginally effective when confronted with zones. Coach ‘Spoon attributed his squad’s effectiveness against the zone to their spacing and ball movement. I’m in no position to argue with that.
The Bad: Nor am I in any position to argue with Coach ‘Spoon’s contention that “(UB) we have to solve the lull we are having at the beginning of the second half,” and “solve the issue of turnovers.” When the Bulls are leading a team like Army 40-30 at the half, they need to extend that lead until the first official timeout of the half. Making better decisions and treating the rock like it has more value than your average disposable Brooklyn bodega coffee cup should help with that.
The Ugly: Army’s senior guard Cleveland Richard, the Black Knights’ leading scorer, might need post-traumatic stress syndrome counseling after the 1-of-12 (1-of-8 from behind the arc) shooting night he had. With the way Buffalo guards Boyer, Smiley, Filzen, and Rodney Pierce defend, Richard won’t be the only opposing guard that has a horror show of an outing against the Bulls this season.
Who’s Got Next: Buffalo gets a chance to join the rest of the good guys that have won games against the bad guys this season when they square off with Purdue, a team that has Final Four talent and experience. The Bulls have the defensive chops to stay in this game — Ken Pomeroy ranks them 44th — but the Boilermakers are also pretty good on the defensive end of the court. Defend for 40 minutes and avoid Biblical droughts on the offensive end, and Buffalo has a chance to escape from Indiana with both the scratch and a dubbya.
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