Crowd support propels Bulls to Round of 32

TULSA — They’re about 1,100 miles away from Buffalo, but the UB men’s basketball team is feeling right at home here. A boisterous crowd of Bulls fans cheered sixth-seeded UB on to a 91-74 win against No. 11 Arizona State in an NCAA Tournament first-round game Friday night in the BOK Center.

UB players said they heard the fans all game long. “The crowd was great. Anywhere we go we always see the blue. We have great fans and a great community in Buffalo,” senior Montell McRae said after UB (32-3) advanced to Sunday’s second-round matchup against No. 3 Texas Tech. “I just love our fans. They give us great support. We feed off their energy for sure.”

Tulsa even reminds McRae of UB’s home base. “Tulsa is a great city. It’s a blue collar city just like Buffalo,” he said.

Jayvon Graves felt the love as well. He had a sizable group of supporters in the crowd, all wearing white T-shirts with the Bulls logo on the front on and his name on the back.

“We had a great crowd. I really appreciate them. They always travel well,” Graves said. “My mom has only missed three games this year. My dad was up there, too.”

After the game, UB’s Nate Oats and Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley were asked to talk about what it was like coaching against each other, which was one of the big storylines entering the first round.

Here’s what Hurley said: “I think the world of Nate Oats as a coach, as a person, as what he’s done for Buffalo basketball and how his personality rubbed off and how hard his team competes and plays the game.”

Oats: “I thanked him for everything he’s done for my career before the game. He’s a good friend. We kind of said on Sunday night when we talked, ‘Let’s be friends before and compete like crazy.’ I think we both coached really hard. I just tried not to look down the other way and just coach the game. Try not to worry about coaching against a good friend. Just worry about coaching my team and our players. After the game, he was super complimentary. Said our kids are some of the hardest-playing kids he’s seen all year. Felt like there were seven guys on the floor they had to play against. We’ll touch base I’m sure here in the next few days and renew the friendship.”

Now the Bulls’ attention shifts to Sunday’s Round of 32 tilt against Texas Tech, which defeated Northern Kentucky in their first-round game. Tip-off is set for 6:10 p.m. Eastern time, with the game airing on TNT.

UB is looking to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, which would be a first for the program.

“I think when the horn went off, we didn’t celebrate as much because we feel like we can play with anybody in the country,” senior Jeremy Harris said. “So I mean, it’s good to get a win, but we’re not done yet, I don’t think.”