Bulls Crush Chippewas To Get Back To Winning Ways

True Blue nation has come to know junior forward Mitchell Watt as Mitchell "Swatt." On Tuesday night, Mr. "Swatt" was in strong form, helping the men's basketball team turn in one of its most dominant performances of the season.

The Bulls (14-7, 7-3 Mid-American Conference) dismantled Central Michigan (6-16, 3-7 MAC) in every phase of the game and disposed of them 72-43. It was Buffalo's fifth straight win at home and seventh out of its last eight.

Watt finished the game with nine rebounds and six blocked shots to help the Bulls hold Central Michigan to only 27 percent shooting for the game. The Chippewas only shot 1-for-12 from behind the arc in the game.

After the game, Watt attributed his success to the success of the team. He thought his teammates did a great job of cutting off dribble penetration by Central Michigan, and the physical play by the guards really helped deter the Chippewas from having success close to the basket.

"As a team, we had really good help defense today, especially compared to how we played at Ball State," Watt said. "We like to set a tone and let teams know that inside shots aren't going to be an option. We want to force them to take longer shots and put things in the hands of our perimeter defenders."

Head coach Reggie Witherspoon thought his team responded well after struggling defensively against Ball State (14-8, 6-3 MAC). He knows that scoring becomes difficult for teams when the Bulls play the type of defense they played against Central Michigan.

"We pushed them to spots on the floor that were good for us, and our defensive pressure [was good] from start to finish [in the game]," Witherspoon said. "Mitch, as well as the other guys, really did a good job of making it difficult for them to go right to the basket and finish."

Senior point guard Byron Mulkey recorded a career-high 29 points in the win. The fifth-year senior responded after one of his worst performances of the season in the Bulls' loss against Ball State in their last outing.

From the very beginning of the game, Mulkey looked like a rejuvenated player and more like the guy Bulls fans have come accustomed to seeing. He added three more steals to his MAC-leading total and was time and time again the best player on the floor.

Mulkey really put his focus on defense and felt that it led to the strong offensive performance by he and his teammates.

"It's important for me to set the tone as far as communication, enthusiasm, and energy, especially on the defensive end," Mulkey said. "We take a lot of pride in our defense and one of the things we want to do is get stops. When we get stops that leads to us being effective on the offensive end."

Junior forward Zach Filzen had somewhat of an off shooting night but still finished with 15 points for the Bulls. His effort on the defensive end, however, was evident, and he was able to contribute in other ways to help his team.

The defensive improvement in Filzen's game has been crucial because it allows Witherspoon to leave the offensive sharpshooter on the floor in all situations. He really focused on the defensive end of the floor against CMU.

"The big focus for us tonight was to pick it up on defense because we weren't happy with the way we played on Saturday night," Filzen said. "I was trying to bring energy and trying to talk, and we were trying to get stops. Hopefully, we can continue doing that."

The Bulls outrebounded the Chippewas 39-34 and extended their record this season to 13-1 when they win the battle on the boards. Freshman forward Javon McCrea was a big part of the effort on the glass as he finished with eight rebounds. He also had two blocked shots and scored four points.

CMU guard Jalin Thomas led the Chippewas in scoring with 18 points and was the only CMU player to score in double digits. He went 10-for-11 from the free throw line.

The Bulls' next game is on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. when they travel to Eastern Michigan (6-16, 3-6 MAC) to battle the Eagles.

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