UB gets their annual crack at beating a high ranking team this week. While the Bulls have to yet beat a top 25 team under Coach Witherspoon they have made each and every ranked team who comes to Amherst struggle to get out. Hopefully UB will build on that by finally upend a ranked team this year.
BYU Comes in ranked as the #16 in the nation and just two games after getting upended by UCLA. Still the Cougars are 'swimming in the deep end' despite not possessing the athletic talents one might find on other top 25 teams. According to center Chris Miles they hold their own because of the comfort level between the players
"I think the key to our success is our ability to not be selfish as a team. We all like each other on and off the floor and I think that helps us. We all trust each other. There are certain teams where they expect things from a certain guy on their team and those players absolutely take over" -- Chris Miles
While that tends to sound like the prepared soundbites any team has BYU can point at praise from some other squads. Last Season San Diego State junior guard D.J. Gay said that BYU was the most cohesive unit the Aztecs have played against.
Buffalo is well rested during a late December with only one game. A game against a division II school may not been enough to keep the Bulls sharp and with four to eight hundred of BYU fans expected to be at the game UB will not be able to lean on home court advantage.
Keys for Buffalo:
- While BYU has the whole 'team thing' going on Jimmer Fredette is still the main guy to look out for. He has scores as much as 49 points in a game this season and averages more than 24.
- The Courgars have leaned on Zone Defenses Before UB is going to have to shoot well early or they may struggle all night.
- Offensively BYU has run teams right out of the buildings with, well runs. Coach Witherspoon has this nasty habit of letting runs go on way too long. I understand that he wants those timeouts for the final minutes of the halves but if he lets the game get out of control early they are not going to be of too much help.
- BYU has managed to get themselves into foul trouble now and again, particularly Brandon Davies. If UB wants to be in this game they need an epicly good night at the line.
Just a note that there is a promotion for this game (given that nobody i son Campus):
The game will tip off at 7 pm Thursday. All current UB students (undergrad, grad, etc) with a proper UB ID can receive one free ticket and a free guest ticket to the game. More than one guest attending the game with a UB student can receive a discounted ticket at $10. Limited number of guests tickets are available for the BYU game. To the tickets visit the student ticket zone one hour before tip-off.
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Adv. | |
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Adv. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP Rank | N/A | 16 | |
3pt FG Pct | 37.5 | 34 | |
| RPI Rank | 184 | 4 | |
Eff FG Pct | 53.1 | 51.3 | |
| SOS Rank | 316 | 38 | |
True Shtg Pct | 55.5 | 54.8 | |
| Proj SOS Rank | 238 | 31 | |
Free Throw Rate | 40.9 | 38.9 | |
| Overall | 7-3 | 12-1 | |
2pt FG pt Pct | 55.5 | 51.9 | |
| Home | 5-0 | 5-0 | 3pt FG pt Pct | 24.6 | 27.1 | |
|
| Away | 2-3 | 2-0 | |
FT pt Pct | 19.9 | 21 | |
| Neutral | 0-0 | 5-1 | |
RPG | 37.6 | 41.2 | |
| Blowout (+ 19) | 2-0 | 7-0 | |
Off Rebs PG | 12.2 | 12.5 | |
| Close (- 6) | 1-2 | 2-0 | |
Off Reb Pct | 36.6 | 32.8 | |
| Pts PG | 73.2 | 82.7 | |
Def Rebs PG | 25.4 | 28.6 | |
| Poss PG | 69.7 | 73.5 | |
Def Reb Pct | 67.4 | 71.7 | |
| Pts Per Poss | 1.05 | 1.13 | |
Assists PG | 14.1 | 14.9 | |
| Floor Pct | 53.7 | 55.6 | |
Assist Pct | 53.6 | 51.6 | |
| FG Made PG | 26.3 | 28.9 | |
A/T Ratio | 0.85 | 1.36 | |
| FG Att PG | 55.2 | 63.6 | |
Steals PG | 9.5 | 8.8 | |
| FG Pct | 47.6 | 45.5 | |
Steal Pct | 13.6 | 11.9 | |
| FT Made PG | 14.6 | 17.4 | |
Blocks PG | 6.1 | 4.1 | |
| FT Att PG | 22.6 | 24.8 | |
Block Pct | 10.9 | 7 | |
| FT Pct | 64.6 | 70.2 | |
TOPG | 16.5 | 11 | |
| 3FG Made PG | 6 | 7.5 | |
Turnover Pct | 23.7 | 15 | |
| 3FG Att PG | 16 | 21.9 | |
Fouls PG | 18.7 | 18.2 | |