Miami dodges another bullet from UB

By Budd Bailey

The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team has played undefeated Miami (Ohio) for two games and 85 minutes this season, and there’s no doubt that the teams play as if they are evenly matched.

The problem for UB is that the RedHawks have been a shade better. Twice.

Game No. 2 was in Alumni Arena Tuesday night, and it again went down to the buzzer. This time, a three-point shot by the Bulls didn’t go in, and Miami escaped with a 73-71 win before 3,507.

The sequel to the January 17 game between the teams wasn’t quite as good as the original, which was decided by two buzzer-beating three-pointers. But it might have been as well-played of a game as we’ve seen in Western New York this season.

“Great college basketball game against a great team,” UB coach George Halcovage summarized. “We’ve been in a battle before with this team, and we knew it was going to take a valiant effort of sticking together. … It was a see-saw, back-and-forth game.”

There were several reasons why the Bulls played the No. 23 or No. 24 team in the country (depending on which poll you prefer) so well. Angelo Brizzi scored 22 points on 9 for 14 shooting from the field to give Buffalo a nice spark. He knew that his team was ready for this huge test – the first time in 16 years that a ranked opponent played in Alumni Arena.

“With how intense a battle the last one was, we knew it would be a battle,” he said. “Everyone’s eyes were on the right spot for sure. I was trying to be aggressive around the ball. The ball came to me in good spots.”

Daniel Freitag put up another solid game with 18 points, going 8 for 8 from the line. Center Tim Oboh’s play for UB might have been the nicest surprise of the game. He was active and aggressive all night, and that makes the entire Buffalo team better. Oboh finished with seven points and eight rebounds.

“He played tremendous on both ends,” Halcovage said. “Unfortunately in the last game he had his second foul, a touch foul, late in the first half. When Tim’s in the game, he anchors our defense and does so much for us. Having him available for the whole game was huge for us.”

The first half was quite competitive. The RedHawks often pulled out to a small lead, and the Bulls fought back each time. The halftime score of 38-35 for Miami reflected that. But a key moment came very early in the second half, when the RedHawks went on an 11-0 run to extend their lead to 48-37. Miami never trailed the rest of the way, although UB tied the game on three separate occasions.

A four-minute dry spell for scoring down the stretch looked like it might doom Buffalo, which fell behind by 72-66 with 1:32 left. But the Bulls clawed back, and had the ball after Luke Skaljac of Miami missed a one-and-one free throw with 7.6 seconds left. However, Ryan Sabol was double-teamed in the closing moments and couldn’t get a good three-point attempt off.

Miami improved to an amazing 23-0 for the season, 11-0 in the Mid-American Conference. Skaljac led the RedHawks with 19 points, while Brant Byers had 11.

Miami seems to have figured out how to win the close ones lately, with four of their last five wins either coming by two points or in overtime. It’s a team that has won before, and it is playing like it expects to win.

“I think have great experience, and they’ve gone through their experiences together,” Halcovage said. “When you’ve got those guys, they can be the anchors. They’ve been in a battle. They lost to Akron last year, and I think they came into this season with a hunger. I’ve been lucky enough to be with teams that have come in a little hungrier after it doesn’t end the way you want it to. But then you have to play one game at a time.”

UB fell to 14-9, 4-7 MAC. That’s seven losses in eight games for the Bulls, who know they can play with the MAC’s best but now have to earn some wins against other conference opponents in order to qualify for the postseason tournament in a little over a month.

“We grew today,” Halcovage said about his team. “This is a game we can look back at and use it to propel our team forward through the rest of the season.”

(Follow Budd on X.com via @WDX2BB)