Willie Conner barrage puts Bulls over Coppin State, 87-52

The Coppin State Eagles came into Alumni Arena today 0-11 on the season, and poor perimeter defense and a memorably airballed free throw didn’t help them much against Buffalo, as the Bulls prevailed 87-52.

UB evened their record at 5-5 thanks to a big day from the three-point arc. Willie Conner hit eight triples on the way to a game-high 28 points, UB hit 15 from beyond the arc, and CJ Massinburg added 15 in the easy win that saw a Christian Pino appearance as the lead ballooned.

For what it’s worth, Pino dished to Nikola Rakicevic for a three.

The Bulls converted free throws and kept their turnovers down against an inferior team, getting 18 points out of 24 trips to the line and only handing the ball over 11 times against 21 assists.

Nine scored today for the Bulls, and the rebounds were as well-distributed as you’ll ever see: With ten minutes to play an a 25-point lead, only Nick Perkins had more than three boards, but nine Bulls had at least two against the undersized Eagles. Quate McKinzie finished strong to lead the Bulls with nine, including a massive putback in the waning minutes that could very likely stand in April as UB’s Dunk of the Year.

It’s the type of game Buffalo needed, as against a bad team, Nate Oats’ group simply executed and look to be gelling nicely with Massinburg and Quate McKinzie’s returns to the lineup. Notably, leading scorer Blake Hamilton only tallied six points, and UB didn’t miss a beat.

UB gets a week off now before their yearly game against Canisius, back downtown at the KeyBank Center and featuring Reggie Witherspoon and the Bulls under the same roof for the first time since the longtime coach was let go.