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Buffalo Bulls 80, Kent State Golden Flashes 55: Everything you could ask for

Wonderful.

By Matt Gritzmacher

For the a game not even halfway through the MAC schedule, it doesn't get much bigger than tonight's nationally-televised matchup between Kent State and Buffalo. Maybe not for Kent State, but the huge 80-55 win is already a critical point in the Buffalo season, as it draws the Bulls within a single game of the conference lead.

Normally I have more than this in the instant recap, but the energy was so incredible tonight I just couldn't keep up. True Blue put together an atmosphere Alumni hasn't seen since... BYU? UConn? Pitt? Ohio 2006? NIU 2003? Xavier Ford continued his incredible senior year with a massive 25 points and 9 rebounds, including 3-6 from distance

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/ygQAKGy8CT/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Packed house tonight! #BlackoutAlumniArena #HornsUp #GoBulls</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by UBAthletics (@ubathletics) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-01-31T03:52:15+00:00">Jan 30, 2015 at 7:52pm PST</time></p></div></blockquote>

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UB lived up to the task. After an early 6-0 lead from the visitor, things got a little wild, with UB just going on a casual 45-19 run over the next 18 minutes. I would provide analysis, but who the hell cares? It was a time to party.

Included in that 45-25 halftime lead was a career-high tying 17 points (and 6 rebounds) from Ford, who is blossoming into the player we hoped for when he came to UB as Colorado Player of the Year. Otherwise, everything went right, as UB has 11 assists already at the break and turned 7 Kent turnovers into 13 points.


I was worried at the break about a quick run from Kent that would take the crowd out of it, but Ford hit two more three pointers early and Buffalo continued to pull away to a 59-30 lead after a Justin Moss and-one. Oh yea, Justin Moss. The MAC's leading scorer wasn't even a big factor for a long time, but still finished with 13 points and 9 boards.

Again, there's not a whole lot to say about this, because it was just fun. UB followed up 21 assists on Tuesday with 18 more tonight, once again with under 10 turnovers, and did it all while only getting to the free throw line 15 times. We'll have more in tomorrow's takeaways piece


UB's next game comes Wednesday the 4th, on the road at Ball State. Hopefully the Bulls can use these two home wins to vault into the home stretch of the season. The team that played tonight will beat all comers in the MAC. Now, it's all about getting consistent effort both game to game and for the full 40 minutes of each game.

Go Bulls.

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