Let's do a little basketball math experiment, shall we?
What happens when freshmen and sophomores average 32.2 minutes of action per basketball game, and then take away the team's two captains who are also the only two returning starters?
Even Mr. Wizard would not be able to whip something up to get himself out of that mess of trouble.
Head coach Reggie Witherspoon's Buffalo Bulls weren't expected to do much this season. An extremely young team in the tough Mid-American Conference has it bad enough, but when the team is handcuffed by debilitating blows through injuries to its top two players, that's just kicking a team when it's down.
Nevertheless, Witherspoon kept his troops motivated every game, and was able to field a team that despite having a poor record of 5-23 overall, 2-17 MAC, was competitive in many games. UB, however, finished last overall in the conference, traveled to Northern Illinois for a first round playoff game, and lost 81-64.
"We weren't a team that went out and beat ourselves by playing sloppy, throwing the ball all over the court," said Witherspoon. "We had our moments when that happened, but I think that in spite of all the adversity that came out, and in spite of injuries and youth, we went out and played people. I don't think a lot of it was that the other team just didn't play well, but still won. There weren't a lot of times when the team had 20 to 25 turnovers, but I think sometimes when you look at a team's record, that team has beaten itself a lot. But we were still able to compete with the best teams in our conference."
Senior Clement Smith played his final game of the season against Marshall in the Bulls' eleventh game. His absence thereafter was due to a back injury, and the loss of his eight points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game set UB back greatly.
Yet Buffalo's greatest loss came when point guard Turner Battle broke his finger in practice, right after the team won their first MAC game of the season against Eastern Michigan Feb. 11, and also snapped their 13-game losing skid. Battle was leading the team in points per game with 12.7, was third in the MAC in assists per game (4.55), and fifth in steals per game (1.9).
"It was very difficult," said Witherspoon. "We went into the season with two starters returning from the previous season, and those two were named captains, and then to lose both of them means you're essentially put back at the starting block. With familiarity and leadership and comfort level it was very difficult. A season with one starter and then down the road none. Having said that, I think the guys that stepped in really did some good things."
Among those guys were Jason Bird and B.J. Walker. Walker, a freshman, had 21 points and ten rebounds in a devastating one-point loss to Kent State, the eventual MAC East Division Champions.
"B.J. did come around, especially when you're looking where he came from in the beginning of the season," said Witherspoon. "The load that was put on him, and he really came around, his mental approach was really admirable."
Bird was named MAC player of the week for March 3-8. In all three games that the sophomore guard played in, he set a new personal high for points in a game. He scored 15, 16 and then 20 points in action that week, averaging 17 a game.
"I was impressed with his play and I was impressed with his mental approach to things as much as his play and not more," said Witherspoon. "The load got heavier on him and everybody. When you're used to one person getting you the ball in certain spots, and it's difficult to adjust to that even from one season to the next, but it is extremely difficult to adjust to that in season, after the season has started. And especially looking at Jason he was able to do that a lot and continue to play harder and more aggressive."
When Battle was in, however, he was the glue that held the Bulls together.
"I think Turner was as valuable to our team as any player in our conference to his team," said Witherspoon. "He does so many things, there are other very good players but Turner's value to our team is incredibly high and having said that I think it was good for the other guys to experience victory when he was not there, so they can increase their value to the team and realize it and feel it."
The final regular season game for UB, in which the Battle and Smith-less Bulls were able to defeat Akron, was a huge victory for a battered and beaten team heading into the off-season.
"I don't know if it was a highlight, but being in the situation where we were able to win a game without our two returning starters was encouraging," said Witherspoon. Things happen for a reason, certainly we would rather not have had that situation, personally I would rather have had everyone healthy and experience some progress, but having said that I think guys got a lot more game minutes. Guys have the opportunity to improve everyday in practice, but I think the guys got a chance during games to experience the ups and downs of playing college basketball."
Despite what all the naysayers and apathetic students have to say about the Buffalo Bulls basketball program, there is truly only one direction for the young and restless team to go.
"I'm looking forward to next season already, which gets started (today)," said Witherspoon. "I think our guys are looking forward to next season. The challenge for us right now is to make progress academically and to get in the weight room and get as strong as we can and work on some individual skills that will allow us to play better."
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
