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In December 2013, UB's road win over Drexel under new coach Bobby Hurley was a sign that the program was on the right track after both a rocky start to the season and a transition from longtime head coach Reggie Witherspoon. It certainly wasn't program-defining, but it was a good win over a solid mid-major on the road.
Tonight's 80-70 home victory gave the Bulls wins over the Dragons in consecutive years, but it's a much different story in 2014: Drexel was just 2-6 coming into tonight's matchup and in their loss to the University of Sciences became one of the few Division I teams to lose to a D-II or III team in the first few weeks of the season.
At times the visitors were able to slow the Bulls, but UB never went into one of their signature droughts of years past and was able to maintain a lead throughout even as Drexel at times pulled within one possession. Buffalo finally pulled away when Jarryn Skeete hit Rodell Wigginton for a big alley-oop and then scored UB's next five points coming out of the under-12 timeout. After a Drexel timeout, Skeete hit another three, and the Bulls pulled away.
Xavier Ford, returning from a concussion, was the star early for the Bulls, with 10 points and 5 rebounds (3 offensive) in the first half. Justin Moss led the way over the whole night, finishing with 16 and 10, while Skeete poured in 14 and five Bulls hit double figures.
The first edition of this post had four Bulls with 10+ points. I missed Bearden's late three. My apologies.
UB was especially strong on the glass and in ball control, outrebounding their opponent 39-36 and balancing just 10 turnovers with 19 assists. Drexel was led by 21 points from Damion Lee, though were undone by 15 turnovers themselves and just 4-17 shooting from distance.
We'll have more from the game, takeaways, and hear from the players and coaches later tonight after the postgame presser, but know for now that the men are back in action Friday, again at home, against the Niagara Purple Eagles. Tip is at 7:00 during a busy night that sees Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, and Lance Leipold's Whitewater Warhawks all start concurrently.
Go Bulls!