The first half of Wednesday night's game was a grind-it-out, sloppy affair that ended with hometown Buffalo leading just 29-24. In the final 20 minutes, however, the scintillating Bulls sent a message: they're far more than five points better than the Ball State Cardinals.
Buffalo (13-6, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) avoided the proverbial "trap game" and won its fifth straight in MAC play, posting a dominant 73-57 victory over Ball State (12-8, 4-4 MAC) at Alumni Arena. The victory was highlighted by a fascinating big-man battle, balanced scoring, unconscious shooting from downtown, and a couple electrifying dunks.
Ball State entered with one star, and center Cardinals Jarrod Jones lived up to the hype. He put up monster numbers, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds. But Buffalo's star center came to play, too. Senior forward Mitchell Watt posted a notable game yet again, flourishing under the spotlight with 20 points, seven boards, four assists, and five blocks. The two bigs went blow-for-blow.
Asked if the matchup was personal, Watt simply said: "Yeah. It was." He went on to explain that he wasn't so inspired because he was going head-to-head with Jones specifically, but because his team hadn't beaten Ball State in the regular season once throughout his whole career.
There was one evident difference between the two players, though: Watt had support. The rest of Jones' team only mustered 36 points, while Watt's squad added 53.
Buffalo's scoring came from top to bottom, as senior guard Zach Filzen scored 14 on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc; sophomore forward Javon McCrea (the team's leading scorer, coming in averaging 16.4 points per game) put up 10; senior forward Titus Robinson scored nine; and guards Tony Watson and Aurum Nuiriankh each scored eight.
"Sometimes we need to cool our guys' adrenaline down so they understand that there's going to be open shots for a lot of people," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "In the second half, we had a lot of guys open, but it was because we moved the ball and made easy passes, and we fought the adrenaline rush."
Filzen wasn't the only one knocking down long-range jumpers. The Bulls finished 10-of-19 from beyond the 3-point line – good for 52.6 percent. Ball State shot just 20 percent from beyond the arc. The Bulls have made nine or more 3-pointers in each of their past five games.
The Arena was poorly filled, but those who came out to support were rewarded in two major ways, two times the players said: "dunk you very much." On the first occasion, with just eight minutes left in the game, Watt flipped up a short jumper. It bounced off the rim and McCrea flew out of nowhere for a gigantic flush, as the crowd's collective jaw dropped to the ground.
Just a few minutes later, Watson came away with a steal on the defensive end. A few transition passes later, Robinson posterized Ball State forward Aaron Adeoye. The senior threw it down emphatically with two hands, and his legs wound up right on top of Adeoye.
"Those two [dunks] really were nails in the coffin for Ball State tonight," Watt said.
Though he didn't get on the scoreboard, sophomore guard Jarod Oldham had a spectacular game. He finished with six assists, two steals, and two blocks, and really controlled the tempo, never forcing the action and running the point like a veteran. He only attempted one shot.
Watt played with two leg braces as he continues to be limited by knee ailments. However, onlookers wouldn't have known he was injured at all from Wednesday night's performance. Watt played 37 outstanding minutes.
"I feel pretty good," Watt said. "I'm battling some [injuries] right now, but the rest of the guys are keeping me in good spirit. It's late in my career and late in the season, so things are going to happen."
Witherspoon said his team's main concern entering this game was Ball State's rebounding prowess. The Bulls must've game planned well, as Witherspoon's squad won the battle of the boards, 36-24. Coming in, Buffalo ranked fourth in the nation in rebounding, averaging 41.4 boards per game.
The first half was a back-and-forth defensive battle. Neither team could get in rhythm, as Nuiriankh and Watt provided almost all of Buffalo's offense. The two combined for 18 of the team's 29 first-half points. Nuiriankh hit both 3-pointers he attempted, and his timely shooting gave his team a huge boost.
The Bulls finished with 16 turnovers to the Cardinals' seven, but a handful of those came late in the game as Witherspoon went deep into his bench and the game got sloppy.
This was the Bulls' first regular season win against Ball State in their past seven attempts. Ball State now leads the all-time series, 13-8, and the Cardinals won 72-71 in Muncie last year. Ball State lost 59-55 to Ohio earlier this week.
Though the Bulls won, so did Akron and Ohio, so Buffalo remains tied with Ohio (18-4, 6-2 MAC) for second in the MAC East behind Akron (15-7, 7-1 MAC). Akron's one conference loss came at Buffalo on Jan. 18, 82-70.
Next up for the Bulls is a trip to Toledo (10-12, 2-6 MAC) on Saturday. Action will get underway at 7 p.m.
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Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
