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On Saturday, the Buffalo Bulls return to Alumni Arena for a two game stint at home. The Bulls will be facing two big 4 opponents in Canisius and St. Bonaventure. These are going to be two very key games for UB as we aren't going to learn much from top-10 opponents like Duke and Iowa State. Canisius is one of the games we expected to win in the pre-season and we still have a really good shot.
Quick Facts
Opponent: Canisius
Head Coach: Jim Baron (413-398, 4th year with Canisius)
Date/Time: Saturday 11/28/15, 2:00 PM
Opponent's Mascot: A Griffin, for once the mascot is kind of cool
Current Record: 2-2, with wins against Lehigh and Cornell
2014-15 Season Record: 18-15 (11-9 MAAC)
Postseason: Made it to CIT Quarterfinals and lost to NJIT
All Time Series: Canisius leads 27-16
This is going to be a good game for us. It should help us continue to get in the swing of things and hopefully generate some more offense.
Opponent's Roster and Stats
| Player | Position | Height | MIN | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| Malcolm McMillan | G | 6'0" | 35.8 | 25.5 | 2.3 | 4 | 0.554 | 0.909 | 0.435 |
| Phil Valenti | F | 6'7" | 34.3 | 12.8 | 6.3 | 3.3 | 0.435 | 0.5 | 0.333 |
| Jermaine Crumpton | F | 6'6" | 22 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.4 |
| Jamal Reynolds | G | 6'4" | 27 | 11.3 | 9.8 | 1.3 | 0.483 | 0.708 | 0 |
| Kassius Robertson | G | 6'3" | 31.5 | 10.8 | 3 | 3.3 | 0.356 | 0.2 | 0.345 |
| Kevin Bleeker | C | 6'11" | 20.3 | 7.8 | 6.3 | 0.8 | 0.393 | 0.727 | 0.125 |
| Isaiah Gurley | G | 6'3" | 14 | 7 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.318 | 0.833 | 0.333 |
| Cassidy Ryan | F | 6'6" | 8.7 | 3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Chris Atkinson | G | 5'9" | 11 | 3 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.333 |
| Adam Weir | G | 6'4" | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.333 |
| Kiefer Douse | G | 6'3" | 7.3 | 1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 |
| Ronnie Gombe | F | 6'8" | 4.7 | 0.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Total | 86 | 39 | 17 | 0.434 | 0.753 | 0.33 |
Canisius seems to have things figured out more than us. Their ball movement has been great with an average of 17 assists per game. They have two guys who are shooting at 50% or higher from the field. The real star on this team is Malcolm McMillan. The senior guard is showing that he will be the one to lead this offense. He's averaging over 25 points per game and 4 assists. On top of that he also gets points 91% of the time from the charity stripe. Canisius is really used to playing with a lot of possessions this season so we're going to have to be playing our best defense.
Notable Opponents
- Lost to St. Bonaventure (UB plays them next)
- Penn State
- Kent State (MAC Opponent)
Can We Win?
If UB shows some good defense in this one, a win isn't out of the question. They can't let McMillan have a strong day and as a result, they should try and contain him. I'm expecting a win out of this one.