Buffalo Bulls vs Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball takeaways: Bulls move to 4-2 with OT win

The box score for Buffalo's 98-96 overtime win over Canisius yesterday lists an official attendance number of 0, but that obviously isn't right, and the few thousand who were there certainly got their money's worth. Our takeaways:

Matt's Takes

1. Balance

Everyone did a little of everything: six Bulls had between 12 and 18 points, and six had between 3 and 8 rebounds. No Bull ever took over the game for stretches, short of Jarryn Skeete's obvious three-point attempt at the end of regulation when everyone in the building should have known the senior was getting the ball, but by the same token no one looked completely useless, either. I think the best use of David Kadiri and Ikenna Smart is in an offense-defense rotation.

2. Offensive frontcourt

Both in finishing and rebounding around the offensive glass the Bulls looked inconsistent and at times weak, though they matched Canisius with 15 offensive rebounds and did score 54 points in the paint. The turning point of regulations' final few minutes was when on a fast break UB missed a layup and two tip ins in about five seconds. Too often there was no one free on the weak side glass or no one following shots in to the rim. Phil Valenti, who is somehow only a junior for the Golden Griffins, was the most complete forward on the floor by a long margin.

Player of the Game: Nick Perkins

The freshman didn't have the best total line, but this also isn't on the basis of one play. Perkins got better and better as the game went on: He hit his final five free throws, played 12 minutes in the second half on three fouls, and all of overtime on four. Most impressively, after Canisius victimized him by drawing him to the perimeter and leaving Rodell Wigginton one-on-one with Jermaine Crumpton for a layup in overtime, he was able to hold his interior ground as the visiting offense struggled in the final three minutes.