2016-17 MAC Men’s Basketball Recap: Buffalo Bulls vs. Xavier Musketeers

The Buffalo Bulls suffered their first loss of the season against a very good #7 Xavier Musketeers squad in an 86-53 defeat Monday night.

Nick Perkins played pretty well for UB as he had 15 points on 4-10 shooting and seven rebounds, leading the team in both categories. Buffalo really didn’t do itself any favors in the match-up with a shooting percentage of 30.6%, a free throw percentage of 61.9%, 21 turnovers, and 38 personal fouls. The team has some time to recoup before returning home to host Nazareth on Nov. 17.

Xavier asserted itself in the first half with a 44-25 lead, enabled by the Bulls poor play on offense and defense as they shot 29.2% from the field, 60% from the free throw line, three assists, 12 turnovers, and 23 personal fouls in the first 20 minutes.

Edmond Sumner had a strong half for the Musketeers with 11 points, five rebounds, two blocks and an assist, while Davonta Jordan struggled shooting for the Bulls going 1-6 in the half but recorded two assists, two rebounds, a block, and a steal to help contribute to the cause in the first half.

Buffalo was able to cut the deficit to 15 points in the second half as a Willie Connor trey set the score at 49-34 with 16:15 left in regulation, but Xavier extended their lead to 25 around the midway point of the half and was able to coast the rest of the way. Jordan didn’t fair much better after halftime with another bucket, two more assists, and another rebound.

The Musketeers outplayed the Bulls, shooting 54.5% from three point land, outrebounded Buffalo 40-33, and did a better job of moving the ball with eight more assists than UB.

The kids from upstate New York have a lot of work to do, but the biggest thing to take away from this game is that most of UB’s wounds were self-inflicted and that they can play at a high level against some really good teams. Time will tell if they get back on track in this portion of the season.