Tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the Mid-American Conference East division, the UB men's basketball team will open the 2004-2005 MAC portion of its schedule this Saturday night when the Bulls host the defending conference champion Western Michigan.
Last season, Western Michigan was a powerhouse, breezing through the conference on the way to recording an impressive 15-3 MAC record and a 26-5 overall record.
After the Broncos (3-2 overall, 0-0 MAC) defeated Kent State 77-67 in the MAC title game, they earned an automatic NCAA tournament bid, where the team eventually fell to Vanderbilt in the first round, 71-58.
This season, the Broncos return three starters, and will strongly compete with the other teams in the MAC West for a chance at a title repeat.
Western Michigan is armed with a handful of very potent weapons, including 2004 All-MAC first team honoree Ben Reed. The senior guard is coming off of an 18-point performance in a 64-48 victory over Detroit.
He also led the Broncos into what may have been the most frustrating loss of the 2003-2004 season for the Bulls, an 84-54 thrashing at the hands of the Broncos last January. Reed scored 28 points, including a 3-3 performance from beyond the arc.
Senior guard Rickey Willis will complement Reed in the backcourt for the Broncos. Willis, a returning starter, is WMU's most experienced player.
UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon is mindful of the talent that the Broncos will bring into the contest versus the Bulls (3-1 overall, 0-0 MAC). He also knows that the Bulls will have to play a near-prefect game in order to capture a victory on Saturday night.
"Western Michigan is going to be a handful, there's no doubt about it," said Witherspoon. "Reed is an extremely talented player, and if not the best player in the conference, certainly one of the best. We cannot play the same way we did against Colgate, or else we will lose the game by 30 points, it's as simple as that. If we can limit our turnovers and the easy baskets, we can build from there. We just can't give up the kind of baskets we gave up on Wednesday."
Despite the Bulls' unusually sloppy offensive performance on Wednesday night against Colgate, there remain a handful of positives that the team can draw from the game following the victory. Buffalo featured five players who scored in double digits, including 13 apiece from senior point guard Turner Battle and sophomore center Yassin Idbihi. Daniel Gilbert was hot for the Bulls as well, adding 12 points, while Calvin Cage and Mark Bortz chipped in with 11 points each.
Witherspoon has seen how dangerous the Bulls can be when the entire team gets the ball, and players make the extra pass to get the open shot.
"When we have players do things like that it makes us a very difficult team to defend," said Witherspoon. "If we can continue to improve on the rebounding and distribution on offense, it will keep us in the game."
The Bulls, however, can't expect to see too many open shots against Western Michigan, and in order to be successful, they will have to be sure to knock down the shots when they get the opportunity.
UB will also need to focus on defense to make sure they do not give the Broncos the same open three-point opportunities that they gave Colgate.
A victory for the Bulls on Saturday night will make it two years in a row that UB has won its first conference game of the season. UB defeated Bowling Green in Buffalo last season by a score of 82-64 at Alumni Arena.
Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Arena immediately following the UB women's basketball contest against Maine.
