Bulls' Rally Falls Short Against Ball State

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team dropped its third straight game with a 75-69 loss to Ball State at Alumni Arena on Thursday night. Buffalo ran into a red-hot shooting Cardinal team that shot 55 percent from the field, including 9-for-11 from beyond the arc.
It was a game that left UB fans scratching their heads. The Bulls forced a season-high 25 turnovers and committed only six - their lowest total in six seasons. In addition, Buffalo took 79 shots, the most by a UB team since the 2002-03 season and 39 more than the Cardinals. But it was Ball State who took advantage of their chances, converting 22 of their 40 field goal attempts.

Buffalo (10-7, 3-3 MAC) took control of the game early and held a 25-18 advantage with 6:44 left in the first half. But Ball State closed the half on a 20-6 scoring run, capped by a Randy Davis desperation three at the buzzer to take a 38-31 lead at halftime.

Ball State (10-9, 4-3 MAC) seemed in control and built its lead to 66-55 with 4:48 left. However, the Bulls rallied and scored ten unanswered points, including eight straight by Sean Smiley. Smiley's second straight three cut the Cardinal lead to 66-65 with 1:46 left. However, Davis struck again as he drained a three-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock expired to give Ball State a 69-65 lead with just over a minute remaining. The Bulls were unable to get any closer.

Max Boudreau was one of four UB players in double-figures with a team-high 15 points to go along with eight rebounds. Smiley added 13 points and Calvin Betts and Rodney Pierce each added 10.

Ball State dominated the glass, outrebounding Buffalo, 44-30. Jauwan Scaife led the Cardinals with 16 points.

"I don't know that I've ever seen a stat sheet that looked like this after a game," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We get 79 field goal attempts and our opponent gets 40. We have six turnovers the whole game. They turn it over 25 times. And the game ends the way it did."

It's a quick turnaround for the Bulls who will play at Northern Illinois on Saturday at noon (CST).