UB travels to Connecticut today to play the Quinnipiac Bobcats in round one of the CollegeInsider.com post season tournament. The Bulls at one point looked to be one of the dominant teams in the MAC before tapering off late in the season. The Bobcats have been solid all season aside from the few games Justin Rutty missed during January. UB Got booted in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament and the Bobcats made it to their semi-final tournament before getting the boot.
While this has been something of a rebuilding year for Quinnipiac the Bobcats are still a very dangerous team on their home court. Last season they lost just one game on their home (to Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference Tournament final). This season they were 12-5 at home.
Players to watch:
- Justin Rutty has a knack for scoring under the basket and the opposition is often forced to double team him down low.
- James Johnson is a dynamic scorer. Johnson is at his best creating for his teammates, but he can get to the basket and hit the three pretty consistently.
- Deontay Twyman pairs up well with Johnson to form one of the most dangerous backcourt duos in the NEC.He is second in scoring on the team only to Johnson
Key Stats:
Quinnipiac doesn't shoot the ball particularly well but led by Justin Rutty the Bobcats are ranked number one in the nation when it comes to rebounds per game. They are ninth in total rebounds per game (16th in defensive rebounds per game). The Bulls have struggled lately on the boards and if they keep that up Rutty will likely end up being the difference maker.
If the Bulls are going to get help anywhere its at the line. Quinnipiac is one of the worse free throw shooting teams in the nation. As bad as UB has been from the charity stripe the Bobcats are even worse (61%). They also tend to turn the ball over a lot (nearly 13 per game).
Common Foes:
The only common foe these teams have is Niagara and the games were remarkably similar. Both games featured the Purp's losing by close to 20 points and both were pretty much over with five minute remaining.
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History:
This will be the first meeting between these two teams
Statistical Head to head:
| Buffalo | Quinnipiac | Buffalo | Quinnipiac | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference | MAC | NEC | 3FG Made PG | 6.2 | 5.4 | |
| Conf Standing | 7 | 2 | 3FG Att PG | 16.2 | 15.8 | |
| AP Rank | N/A | N/A | 3pt FG Pct | 38.3 | 34.2 | |
| RPI Rank | 168 | 147 | Effective FG Pct | 53.4 | 47.4 | |
| SOS Rank | 232 | 312 | True Shtg Pct | 55.8 | 49.9 | |
| Overall | 18-13 | 22-9 | FT Rate | 35.8 | 35.4 | |
| Home | 13-3 | 12-5 | 2pt FG pt Pct | 55.8 | 58.7 | |
| Away | 5-9 | 9-4 | 3pt FG pt Pct | 26 | 22.6 | |
| Neutral | 0-1 | 1-0 | FT pt Pct | 18.2 | 18.6 | |
| Conference | 8-8 | 13-5 | RPG | 35.3 | 42.3 | |
| Top 25 | 0-1 | 0-0 | Off Rebs PG | 11.7 | 16.1 | |
| Blowout (+ 19) | 5-0 | 3-0 | Off Reb Pct | 36.9 | 40.5 | |
| Close (- 6) | 3-6 | 8-4 | Def Rebs PG | 23.5 | 26.2 | |
| Overtime | 0-1 | 1-0 | Def Reb Pct | 67.3 | 73.9 | |
| Pts PG | 71.4 | 71.8 | Assists PG | 14.5 | 15.4 | |
| Poss PG | 67.5 | 68.6 | Assist Pct | 55.4 | 58 | |
| Pts Per Poss | 1.06 | 1.05 | A/T Ratio | 0.94 | 1.24 | |
| Floor Pct | 54 | 57.5 | Steals PG | 7.9 | 5 | |
| FG Made PG | 26.1 | 26.5 | Steal Pct | 11.7 | 7.3 | |
| FG Att PG | 54.6 | 61.6 | Blocks PG | 5.4 | 3.5 | |
| FG Pct | 47.8 | 43 | Block Pct | 10.1 | 6.7 | |
| FT Made PG | 13 | 13.4 | TOPG | 15.4 | 12.4 | |
| FT Att PG | 19.6 | 21.8 | Turnover Pct | 22.8 | 18.1 | |
| FT Pct | 66.2 | 61.3 | Fouls PG | 19.1 | 20.8 |
Vegas odds for this college basketball game?
Buffalo by 1.5