University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: December 14, 2006

Basketball

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Tulane 80, UB 63
Pittsburgh 70, UB 67

UB went toe-to-toe with the number-two team in the nation, but fell just short in its upset bid as Pittsburgh escaped a sold-out Alumni Arena with a 70-67 win on Saturday. Yassin Idbihi led four UB players in double-figures with 18 points and added 10 rebounds. It was the senior forward's fourth double-double of the season and his third in the last four games.

UB (6-4) was up for the challenge from the start as it came out firing in the first half, shooting a sizzling 56.7 percent in the first stanza. After Pitt scored the opening basket, the Bulls scored seven straight points to take a 7-2 lead. A three-pointer by Eric Moore gave the Bulls a 21-10 lead with 11:46 left in the half. The Bulls would hold the 11-point lead with 5:43 remaining in the half and owned a seven-point advantage (42-35) at the break.

A layup by Greg Gamble put the Bulls up, 53-43, with 14:09 left. However, the Panthers went on a 9-0 scoring run to close to within one with 9:24 remaining. A steal and layup by Levance Fields gave Pittsburgh its first lead since the opening minutes, 59-58, with 5:17 left. The Bulls responded with an Idbihi jumper to go back ahead, 60-59. But that was the last lead the Bulls held as a pair of Levon Kendall free throws gave the Panthers the lead for good, 61-60.

The Bulls hung around and had an opportunity to tie the contest late in the game, but a three-point attempt by Idbihi rimmed out with six seconds remaining. Parnell Smith grabbed the rebound and scored to cut the lead to one with 1.7 seconds on the clock. Pittsburgh scored on a layup at the buzzer for the three-point win. The Panthers' three-point advantage was their largest lead of the game.

"Our guys fought really hard, and one of the encouraging things for our guys was that when Pitt came back and took the lead, our guys came with the mindset of winning," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "It was a good experience for us and the next time we'll have to find a way to get better."

Smith finished the game with 15 points and eight rebounds. Moore had 14 points, including four three-pointers. Andy Robinson added 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Each team pulled down 33 rebounds. UB was relentless on the offensive glass, pulling down 15 offensive boards and scoring 17 second-chance points, compared to just six for the Panthers.

Pittsburgh was led by All-American candidate Aaron Gray, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The difference in the game may have come at the free-throw line, as the Panthers shot 16-of-23 from the charity stripe, while the Bulls only went to the line 11 times and made eight.

The Bulls finished with a season-low eight turnovers, including only one in the first half.

The 6,350 fans who packed Alumni Arena was the third-largest crowd in school history and the largest crowd since the arena was reconfigured in 2004.

The week opened for the Bulls with an 80-63 loss at Tulane on Dec. 6, snapping UB's three-game winning streak.

Foul trouble plagued the Bulls from the start and allowed Tulane to take control of the game early. The Bulls had 15 fouls in the first half, sending the Green Wave to the free-throw line 21 times. Tulane finished by shooting 44 free throws on the night, thanks to 31 fouls called on the Bulls.

Robinson kept UB in the game early as he scored 14 of his career-high 18 points in the first half. Despite Robinson's efforts, the Bulls trailed at the half, 44-34.

UB on a 7-1 scoring run early in the second half to cut the Tulane advantage to six points. But only making two field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza doomed the Bulls as the Green Wave built its lead to as many as 19 points. The Bulls battled back to cut the lead to 71-61 with 3:15 remaining—but got no closer.

Tulane held the Bulls to 30 percent shooting, including 18.5 percent in the second half, and blocked 12 shots. Tulane outrebounded UB, 44-40. Gamble led the Bulls with nine rebounds.

Offensively, the Bulls were led by Idbihi, who was named the Mid-American Conference's East Division Player of the Week prior to the game, with 19 points and seven rebounds. Moore added seven points and Smith chipped in six.

"Tulane's interior defense was very good," Witherspoon said. "We didn't come out with the kind of energy that we needed to have to be successful."

WOMEN'S

UB 61, Albany 35
Massachusetts 70, UB 67

UB put forth its most dominant effort of the season so far, defeating Albany, 61-35, on Dec. 6 in Alumni Arena. The 35 points given up by the Bulls were the fewest since they allowed 35 in a victory against Cornell on Jan. 20, 2003. This is also just the third time UB has allowed 35 points in a victory since 1981.

After Albany scored the first basket of the game, freshman Kourtney Brown answered quickly with a layup and the Bulls never looked back. The Brown layup began a 17-2 Bulls run, giving UB a 13-point lead. The Bulls only allowed 18 points in the first half, taking a 33-18 lead into the half. UB started the second half with a 12-0 run, taking its largest lead of the game at 28. The Great Danes converted on a basket at the end of the second half for the final margin of 26.

"I am really pleased with tonight's game," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "I thought we got solid contributions from everyone, including our bench, and our team just followed the game plan and executed what we told them would provide them success tonight and that is a very good feeling as a coach."

The Bulls were led by junior Heather Turner, who scored a season-high 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Turner also recorded seven rebounds to share team-high honors with Brown. Sophomore Rachelle Matthys continued her stellar play at home, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds. Matthys converted on three of six from behind the arc. UB did its best job this season of taking care of the ball, recording 15 assists against just 11 turnovers. Albany did not have as much luck, recording only four assists on the night with 20 team turnovers. UB turned those turnovers in 21 points.

Enjoying her best game as a UB student-athlete was freshman Ashley Zuber, who recorded a career-high eight points on 4-of-6 shooting. Zuber also had a rebound and an assist. The majority of UB's dimes came from junior Stephanie Bennett, who followed up a 12-assist performance against Niagara with seven on the evening. Bennett added seven points on the night. Senior Belinda Gibb had four assists, all in the first half.

The UB defense allowed Albany to shoot just 22 percent from the field, including just 7.7 percent from three-point range on 1-of-13 shooting.

In all, the Bulls played 13 different players, including junior Flynn Pyykkonen, who made her first appearance of the season after recovering from a knee injury. Sophomore Tomi Abayomi recorded her first career assist.

On Sunday, the Bulls went on a 10-0 run in the second half to erase a 13-point UMass deficit. However, Bennett was unable to clinch the victory with a foul shot, instead sending the game into overtime where UMass escaped Alumni Arena with a 72-67 victory. The loss drops UB to 4-6 on the year, while UMass improves to 8-2 with the win.

Down by 10 with 9:28 remaining in the game, the Bulls chipped away at the Minutewomen lead as Bennett hit two key three-point field goals, while sophomore Jamie Schiebner converted on two shots, including the tying basket with 3:22 remaining in the game. UMass reclaimed a three-point advantage before Bennett drained another three with 2:16 to go in the contest. The Bulls then took their first lead since the 18:47 mark in the first half on a Turner layup with just 40 seconds remaining. Kate Mills hit a shot to give UMass a one-point the lead, then Bennett went to the line with just over a second remaining in regulation. She missed the first shot and after a time out by UMass, drained the second to force overtime.

The Minutewomen controlled the overtime period early, scoring the first eight points before Matthys hit back-to-back threes and knock the lead to two with 45 seconds to go in the extra period. UMass tacked on three points in the final 16 seconds to leave with the win.

"We gave up some open shots in the overtime period," said Hill-MacDonald. "Stephanie and Rachelle did a great job today, but we need to get some more production out of more players."

As a team, the Bulls shot 12-of-28 from the perimeter, including a career-high six from Matthys and five from Bennett. Bennett tied a career-high with her 18 points, while Matthys set a new career best with 20 points. Turner joined them in double figures with 10 points. Schiebner added nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

UMass was able to convert on all five of its shots in the overtime period—shooting 52.7 percent for the game—as opposed to just 35.9 percent from the field for UB. The Bulls were able to stay in the contest with their three-point shooting.

The Bulls will concentrate on final exams this week and will wrap up a four-game homestand on Dec. 22 against Southeast Missouri State. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Wrestling

Edinboro 31, UB 6

UB dropped its first dual meet of the season on Saturday morning to USA Today/InterMat/NWCA's 12th-ranked Edinboro, 31-6. The Fighting Scots took eight matches, including the final six, to down the Bulls on their home mat.

Senior captain Mark Budd faced his sixth-straight ranked opponent in Rick Deubel, who is ranked 16th by InterMat. After a scoreless first period, both competitors looked to draw first blood. Falling down 1-0 after a Deubel escape, Budd, ranked ninth by InterMat, scored his 75th career takedown and never looked back, scoring an escape and one point for riding time in the 4-1 decision. Budd's overall record stands at 16-3, going 3-3 in a six-match stretch against ranked opponents.

Redshirt freshman Andrew Stella capitalized on an early takedown and an escape to force a 4-3 decision over Daryl Cocozzo. Stella earned his first career dual-match victory, scoring three team points to make the score 6-4 in favor of the Bulls after three matches.

However, Edinboro reeled off six straight wins to run away with its seventh win of the year. Junior Ryan Needle fought tough against third-ranked Gregor Gillespie at 149 pounds. Needle tied the match at 2-2 after posting a takedown in the third period. However, Gillespie turned a reversal and was awarded a point for riding time to take the contest, 5-2. Junior Jeff Parker capped the day's events with a trench fight against Joe Fendone. Parker recorded a huge takedown in the third period to cut the deficit to one, but the 13th-ranked Fendone held on to take the match, 7-2.

The Bulls will travel to the Bloomsburg Duals on Sunday to battle Bloomburg, Delaware State and Bucknell in tri-meet action.

Football

Upshaw to play in Magnolia Gridiron Classic

After completing his final game for the Buffalo Bulls football team in November, Chad Upshaw will head to Jackson, Miss., for the second annual Magnolia Gridiron Classic on Dec. 23.

Upshaw, a 6-4, 250-pound tight end, is one of eight selections from the Mid-American Conference—and UB's lone representative. College Football News ranked Upshaw as the 22nd best tight end in the nation prior to his senior season. In his final game in the Blue and White, Upshaw grabbed a season-best six catches for 83 yards, including the seventh touchdown reception of his career. In his senior season, he led the team with 35 receptions for a total of 419 yards. He ended with 972 yards receiving, the most ever by a UB tight end, and was just one catch short of the most by a Bulls' receiver. Upshaw also compiled a streak of 22 consecutive games with a pass caught to end his career.

The Magnolia Gridiron Classic was created in 2005 to allow a forum for 100 seniors from both Division I-A and I-AA schools to impress scouts in attendance from each NFL and CFL team. This gives non-bowl game seniors and players from smaller schools a chance to be seen firsthand and possibly earn a spot on a professional roster.