Bulls Pluck Peacocks in Opener

Everything was going right for the men's basketball team on Friday night.

The team was up by as many as 18 points in the second half, had a raucous student section screaming from tipoff until the final buzzer, and seemed poised to win in dominating fashion.

The Bulls (1-0) did pull out a victory against St. Peter's, 72-65 at Alumni Arena, but things got interesting in the final minutes.

The Peacocks trailed big most of the game, but managed to get within four points twice in the final minute. The Bulls, however, were able to hold them off to secure the win.

The adrenaline of the Bulls as a team got to be more than it is capable of handling at this point in the season, according to head coach Reggie Witherspoon.

"I think we got in a rush for the lead to get bigger," Witherspoon said. "We switched defenses a lot more than normal and we didn't rebound the ball well enough defensively."

The Bulls were outrebounded in the game 41-38, and of their 38 boards, only 22 were on the defensive end. St. Peter's scored 21 second chance points in the game – 15 of those points coming in the second half.

The play of senior forward Mitchell Watt and sophomore forward Javon McCrea was one of the differences in the game. McCrea made his first career start, and the combination of the two big men gave the Peacocks defense fits all game long.

St. Peter's started in man defense, but quickly moved to a zone to guard against one-on-one's in the post. Both McCrea and Watt seemed to score at will when guarded by only one Peacocks defender.

Watt – who finished with 12 points, four rebounds, and four blocks – likes playing with McCrea and thinks the pair will give defenses problems this season.

"Both of us enjoy giving the ball up and both of us have – I would say – pretty high basketball IQs, so we work off of each other really well," Watt said. "Obviously Javon attracts a lot of attention and I like less attention on me on the court so I can kind of sneak behind the defense. Plus he's a great passer."

McCrea was brilliant and that isn't a surprise for Bulls fans. The first team All-MAC selection finished with 18 points to lead the Bulls. He also grabbed six rebounds and had four assists.

Along with McCrea, sophomore point guard Jarod Oldham made his first start, and though he may have played a bit too fast at times, his eight points, six assists and five steals really helped the Bulls pull out the win.

"[Starting for the first time] was a lot of pressure," Oldham said. "But after the game got started I kind of got a feel for the game and forgot about the whole ‘starting' thing. After that I tried to make easy passes and keep the game simple as possible. Coach is on me a lot about that because when the adrenaline gets going, I kind of get going too. I'm working on my poise and things like that."

Witherspoon was concerned with the point guard position because junior guard Tony Watson is still recovering from injury and wasn't available to play. He worried Oldham would have difficulties playing a lot of minutes.

"I thought [Jarod] did a good job," Witherspoon said. "The one thing that he does is if he can compose himself and not reach, he's a terrific defender."

Senior forward Titus Robinson has been one of the most maligned players on the Bulls the past two seasons. This offseason, he was informed he would be coming off the bench in his senior season to give way to McCrea.

Witherspoon said Robinson has been great through the transition and attributes some of it to the proven value Witherspoon places on his bench players.

"A lot of people, they mistake and think ‘well who's starting' and think the rest of the guys are like backup quarterbacks – like they're not going to get in," Witherspoon said. "We're really a lot more concerned with who's coming off the bench…Titus saw Jawaan Alson come off the bench and play a vital role."

Robinson was a key player for the Bulls in the second half and helped his team sustain the momentum it built in the first half. Around the midway point of the second half, Robinson's harassing defense forced a St. Peter's turnover that led to an impressive fast break dunk by Robinson.

Witherspoon thinks Robinson can be a key contributor for the Bulls and can help freshman forward Xavier Ford develop, much like Alston helped McCrea a year ago.

Peacocks guard Chris Prescott was the only member of his team that was able to knock down shots consistently. The transfer shooter from St. Joesph's fouled out late in the game. He finished with 23 points and led all scorers in the game.

The attendance was 2,623, and roughly 1,400 of that number were students.

Buffalo will be in action again on Wednesday night at Alumni Arena when it hosts Cornell (0-1) at 7 p.m.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com