Campus Watch

Blake Bean, a LB from Butler CC in El Dorado, Kan., has signed with UB. He's the fourth Butler LB to sign with a D-I program with the other three headed for Syracuse, Texas A&M and South Florida.

Bean goes 6-1, 232. He led Butler, a JUCO power, with 113 tackles last season including 11 for losses.

"Blake is a great fit for our program because he is an outstanding student and a tremendous football player,” Bulls coach Jeff Quinn said in a statement. “He went the JUCO route because he wanted the best opportunity to play collegiate football at the highest level. We have definitely benefitted from that decision and I can’t wait to see him in a UB uniform.”

Bean was a standout high school wrestler, winning state titles in Oklahoma and Kansas. His father Mike played defensive line at Ohio State at the same time UB defensive coordinator Lou Tepper was the head coach at Illinois. UB opens the 2013 season against the Buckeyes in Columbus.

-- Bob DiCesare

UB junior point guard Jarod Oldham could be lost for the season after suffering a wrist injury that will require surgery during practice this week. Oldham is scheduled to undergo surgery next week and the 8-10 week recovery time takes him right up to the Mid-American Conference Tournament in early March.

Oldham's averaged 10.1 points in his role as the Bulls' floor leader. He was coming off an 18-point, 7-assist game against Niagara and signs pointed toward UB's offense beginning to flourish after its early-season struggles.

Without Oldham the point likely falls primarily to Jarryn Skeete, a 6-3 freshman out of Brampton, Ont. He's appeared in 10 of 11 games, averaging 12 minutes, although his playing time has increased of late.

Depth becomes a major concern. Senior Tony Watson is the only other guard with some experience at the point but using him there deprives the Bulls of their best shooter on the wing. And the numbers at guard were already down as freshman shooting guard Stan Weir recovers from an offseason procedure on his knees. It was looking certain that Weir would redshirt this season but the dwindling depth at the position could have the team reconsidering.

We'll have coach Reggie Witherspoon's take later today.

-- Bob DiCesare

Sophomore forward Will Regan has been named Mid-American Conference East Player of the Week after averaging 18 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games last week. Regan, a Nichols graduate and Virginia transfer, had 10 points and seven rebounds in UB's victory over Milwaukee last Wednesday and followed up with career bests of 26 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's victory over Niagara. He was 12 of 18 from the field for the week, 4 of 8 from three-point range and 8 of 8 from the line.

-- Bob DiCesare

St. Bonaventure 82, UB 79

How Bona Won: Defense. The Bonnies turned 19 UB turnovers into 21 points, including the winning basketball by Matthew Wright with 24.6 seconds left. That was followed by a Marquise Simmons deflection that sealed the outcome. And it all began with a Demitrius Conger steal and dunk with 1:02 to go.

Turning Point: Wright's steal of a Tony Watson pass with the shot clock growing lean sent him away on the layup that gave Bona the lead for good.

Player of the Game: Conger set a season-high with 20 points to go with four assists and two steals.

Turnaround: That 39-point performance against Temple Wednesday seemed like eons ago as UB shot 47 percent in scoring a season-high 79 points and went 13 of 24 from long range.

Numbers-Wise: Bona had more points in the paint (36-24), off turnovers (21-11) and on the fast break (23-4).

What It Means: Bona's off to a 4-2 start. UB's just 2-7 but finally showing signs of offensive life,

On the Outskirts: UB junior guard Corey Raley-Ross started, committed two turnovers in two minutes and didn't see the court again. Freshman guard Jarryn Skeete played 15 minutes to help pick up the slack.

Limited: Javon McCrea played only six first-half minutes because of fouls. He finished with 13 points and a game-high 11 boards.

He Said It:

"I thought we showed a little more willingness to step in and shoot some shots but we didn't sustain that willingness to the end of the game and we had some hesitation at the end." -- UB coach Reggie Witherspoon.

"We showed some resiliency fighting back when we were down. But it was a great college game. Give them credit. They played well and someway we found a way to win." -- Bona coach Mark Schmidt.

Up Next: Bona plays host to Siena Tuesday night in a made-for-TV 9 p.m. start. UB travels to Milwaukee Wednesday looking to snap a five-game losing streak against Division I foes.

-- Bob DiCesare

UB junior LB Khalil Mack was the lone Bull on the Mid-American Conference first team released today. Junior WR Alex Neutz and senior DE Steven Means were selected to the second team.

The major postseason awards went pretty much as expected. Northern Illinois QB Jordan Lynch was Offensive Player of the Year, Bowling Green DE was Defensive POY and Kent State RB Dri Archer was Special Teams POY. Mack had my vote on the defensive side but the overall vote
was understandable given Jones's numbers and BG's success.

Kent Srate's Darrell Hazell is Coach of the Year.

My other votes went to Lynch, Archer and Hazell.

-- Bob DiCesare

Bob DiCesare's MAC Power Rankings for Nov. 24:

1. Northern Illinois -- Jordan Lynch will be on my Heisman ballot.
2. Kent State -- Need healthy Dri Archer vs. NIU.
3. Bowling Green -- That defense rocks!
4. Ball State -- Surprised almost everybody.
5. Toledo -- Great year for Fluellen.
6. Central Michigan -- Took
four of last five.
7. Buffalo -- Should have won at least six with that defense.
8. Ohio -- SI jinx hit like a hurricane.
9. Miami -- Beat Ohio and then .... kaboom!
10. Western Michigan -- New coach in '13
11. Eastern Michigan -- Long way to go.
12. UMass -- Made decent progress
13. Akron -- Second straight year without FBS win.

COLUMBUS -- Bo Oliver and Devin Campbell are in uniform and going through warmups. If truly healthy, their presence cast today's game in a different light. Getting the running game going will be more important than normal given the wicked winds whipping across Columbus Crew Stadium. Passing, punting and field goal attempts could lead to some crazy occurences.

Bowling Green moved this game east because:
1) Black Friday games are poor draws with the students on break.
2) There's an alumni base here.

Not many people on hand at this point though.

-- Bob DiCesare

-- Bob DiCesare

Canisius 71, UB 64

How Canisius Won: Call it great defense, UB's largesse or a combination of the two. It's not so hard to make due on an average shooting night and overcome a deficit on the backboards when the opponent commits 24 turnovers, as the Bulls did. Seven of those belonged to point guard Jarod Oldham (he also had nine assists).

Turning Point: A six-point Canisius run featuring layups by Harold Washington, Jordan Heath and Alshwan Hymes made it 63-54 with 6:42 left.

Player of the Game: Bill Baron played 39 minutes and led the way with 18 points while handing out five assists against just one turnover. Which has had the greater impact -- the father or the son?

What It Means: The Griffs are 3-0 after opening with three games at the KAC for the first time in their history. UB, one of only 11 teams in the nation already with six starts, fell to 1-5.

Noteworthy: UB's Will Regan (15) and Canisius's Jordan Heath (14) both hit career highs for points. ... It's the first time the Griffs have beaten UB and Bona in the same season since '03-04.

In the House: There were 2,196 at the KAC, the second consecutive sellout and the 13th since the building was renovated 10 years ago.

They Said It:

"I do not remember playing five guys 75 percent of the minutes at any level. I don't remember doing that. I mean, not jv, not high school basketball, not junior college, not here, never. If it happened I don't remember it. And even today I certainly didn't plan on it." -- UB coach Reggie Witherspoon on playing all five starters over 30 minutes because of injuries.

"It's kind of unspoken. The coaches brought it up. They talked to us about how bad they beat us (last year). We talked about it among each other briefly, but it's nothing like, "Aw, man, they got into us last year, we got to come out . . . '" -- Canisius guard Harold Washington on avenging last year's 94-59 loss to the Bulls.

Injury Update: UB was without forward Xavier Ford, who was dinged in a practice collision with Cameron Downing, and guard Tony Watson (ankle). They're both day-to-day.

Back in Uniform: The Griffs will have Freddy Asprilla back from a three-game suspension for violating team rules when they play at Stony Brook at noon Saturday. UB hosts Mansfield Saturday.

-- Bob DiCesare

UB junior linebacker Khalil Mack has been named the Mid-American Conference East Defensive Player of the Week for his dominating performance in Saturday's 29-19 victory at UMass. Mack set careers highs with 15 tackles and 2.5 sacks. He finished with 3.5 tackles for losses -- becoming UB's career leader in the category -- and forced a pair of fumbles. Oh, yeah, and he was in on both the third- and fourth-down stops of UB's first quarter goalline stand.

The other two East Division awards went to players from Kent State, which locked up the division title with a 31-24 victory over Bowling Green Saturday. The offensive award went to the imcomparable Dri Archer, who rolled for 241 yards on 17 carries and scored from 74 and 77 yards out.Check him out below.  The second TD run defies belief. Kent punter Anthony Melchiori won the special teams award.

-- Bob DiCesare