Campus Watch

Miami (Ohio) 58, UB 57

Game Analysis: Haven't seen one like it since Ohio came from 19 down in the second half to beat UB in the 2005 MAC title game. The Bulls embarrassed themselves in falling 21 points back with 10:20 to play. The fans were so out of it they might as well have been in the parking lot. But slowly the momentum built, within 12 ... 8 ... 4. And it was nuts when UB took the lead on two Javon McCrea free throws with 1:01 left. But that's where the rampage ended. Miami, which didn't have a field goal the final 10:20, got two Allen Roberts free throws with 7.5 seconds left and escaped.

Player of the Game: Roberts led all scorers with 22 points and netted on free throws the only four points Miami scored over the final 10:20. He was ice when the situation called for it on that one-and-one near the end.

Unsung Hero: McCrea topped UB with 19 points but it's not a game without 13 points from junior forward Cameron Downing, 10 of them in the second half. It seems he's beginning to realize the impact he can have on a game.

Stat Check: UB took 10 more shots, six more rebounds and had five fewer turnovers and still lost. You do that by going 2 of 19 from behind the arc.

Random Thought: The Bulls haven't been getting much out of the 3 guard. Why not go bigger, with Will Regan at the 3 and Downing and McCrea in the low post and Xavier Ford in the big-man rotation. Can't match up defensively? Play zone. It might take off some of the pressure Auraum Nuiriankh's obviously feeling at the 3.

What It Means: The Bulls are 5-11, 0-2. Miami and first-year coach John Cooper moved to 6-8, 1-1.

In the House: The crowd of 3,284 went from asleep to enthralled to -- like the Bulls -- deeply disappointed.

Noteworthy?: Chris Beaver's the official who made the blocking call against Nuiriankh that put Roberts at the line for the winning free throws. He's the same official who called the rim hang on Titus Robinson with the Bulls mounting a rally against Ohio last year.

They Said It:
Reggie Witherspoon on the Nuiriankh foul, which appeared questionable when replayed on the scoreboard:

"I don't disagree with anything you just said. I think that's probably where I'll leave it."

Miami coach Cooper: "I thought Cameron Downing was unbelieveable. The second half he gave them an incredible boost. I thought he really played his tail off and brought them back and made some great plays down the stretch of the game."

Roberts: "When we're up 21 with 10 minutes to go, what's going through my mind is keeping pounding them. But sometimes every shot doesn't go in."

More Cooper: "I don't think for probably the first 27 minutes they were reallly ever all-the-way comfortable with running their offense. . . . I thought the double-team bothered them because it through them out of being able to run their continuity (offense)."

McCrea: "We got to take it from people, do things to make them do what we want to do rather than us doing what they want us to do. I think that's how we played for the first 30 minutes. The last 10 minutes I think we forced them to do what we wanted to do. We can be like that. I think we're good enough to do that kind of thing, we just got to sustain it. You'll see a change."

Next Up: The Bulls continue their run against MAC East teams when Kent State visits Alumni Arena at 7 Wednesday night.

-- Bob DiCesare

Here's the conference matchups for 2013 just released by the Mid-American Conference.

As we already knew, UB lost defending champ Northern Illinois from last year's schedule and was assigned Eastern Michigan (2-10, 1-7) in a crossover. So we're getting closer to some semblance of fairness after last year's death sentence.

But note that Ohio -- yet again -- plays just two crossovers (against teams a combined 5-11 in conference last season). That means the Bobcats get both Akron and UMass (a combined 2-22, 1-15) in division. UB again won't see Akron, one of its closest East rivals. Hmmm.

And NIU again has crossovers with Akron and UMass, two teams it beat by the combined tune of 100-7 last year.

Make of it what you will.

2013 MAC FOOTBALL SCHEDULES

EAST:

AKRON
Home: Ball State, Toledo, Kent State, Ohio; Road: Northern Illinois, BGSU, Miami, UMass;

BOWLING GREEN
Home: Toledo, Akron, Ohio, UMass; Road: Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami;

BUFFALO
Home: Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Ohio, UMass; Road: Toledo, Western Michigan, Kent State, Miami;

KENT STATE
Home: Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Miami; Road: Ball State, Western Michigan, Akron, Ohio;

MIAMI
Home: Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Akron, Buffalo; Road: Ball State, Kent State, Ohio, UMass;

OHIO
Home: Central Michigan, Kent State, Miami, UMass; Road: Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Akron, Buffalo;

UMASS
Home: Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Akron, Miami; Road: Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Ohio;


WEST:

BALL STATE
Home: Central Michigan, Toledo, Kent State, Miami; Road: Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Akron;

CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Home: Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, UMass; Road: Ball State, Western Michigan, Miami, Ohio;

EASTERN MICHIGAN
Home: Ball State, Western Michigan, Bowling Green, Ohio; Road: Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Buffalo;

NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Home: Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Akron; Road: Central Michigan, Toledo, Kent State, UMass;

TOLEDO
Home: Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Buffalo; Road: Ball State, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Akron;

WESTERN MICHIGAN
Home: Ball State, Central Michigan, Buffalo, Kent State; Road: Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, UMass.

-- Bob DiCesare

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

Game analysis: Division II Notre Dame College - not to be confused with school from South Bend, Ind. - was no match for the University at Buffalo who used the game as nothing more than a tuneup just before the heart of the Mid-American Conference schedule kicks in. The Bulls never trailed and led by as many as 28 points in their 84-64 romp.

How UB won: Showing up was the key, although Notre Dame did give Cleveland State a scare and actually led by two points in the second half before losing, 77-66.

Turning Point: A little more than five minutes after the ball was tipped, the Bulls led 17-2. It was pretty much downhill from there.

Player of the Game: Big man Cameron Downing missed twice in eight tries and finished with a career best 16 points in 17 minutes.

Cam Connection: Notre Dame's Cam Carlin had 18 points and was 5 of 6 from the field so - combined with Downing - the two Cam's were 11 of 14 overall for 34 points!

Key stat: UB hit 12 of 24 shots from 3-point range. They were also outscored 2-zip on fastbreak points but I'm sure Reggie Witherspoon isn't going to be too concerned.

What It Means: Not much to glean from this one although Witherspoon was able to get some bench players some good minutes.

In the House: 2,162.

He Said It: "For most of the game we got some pretty good shots off some pretty good movement. This is a team that wanted to come in and pressure us and get us to turn the ball over and they did that for the most part against Cleveland State. ... We wanted to be able to handle their pressure and I thought we did a good job at that." - UB coach Reggie Witherspoon.

Up next: The Bulls travel to play Tulsa on Jan. 2 in what will be a homecoming for Downing.

---Rodney McKissic

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

UB 77, Niagara 67

How UB Won: Javon McCrea, coming off a career-high 31 points at Milwaukee Wednesday, was held without a field goal for the first time in his career. Not to worry. Will Regan went 11 over his career high, scoring 26, punishing the Purple Eagles from inside and out.

Turning Point: UB never trailed and Niagara never went away until Regan hit his third three of the night from the corner with 3:17 left. That put UB on top, 66-58.

Player of the Game: You've probably figured it out by now.

Best Supporting Role: Point guard Jarod Oldham continues to evolve into a scoring threat. He had a career-high 20 against St. Bonaventure on Dec. 1 and went for 18 against the Purple Eagles. He was 5 of 10 from the field, 8 of 13 from the line and overcame five turnovers with seven assists.

White Returns: Fifth-year senior transfer Devon White not only suited up for the first time this year, he was in Niagara's starting lineup. White, a 6-foot-8, 240-pounder from La Salle, had been out since suffering an Achilles tendon injury over the summer. He played 23 minutes and had four points, five rebounds and two blocks.

Missing: Niagara was without forward Joe Thomas and guard Marvin Jordan. Thomas returned home because of the death of his grandmother. Jordan missed his second straight game with a groin injury.

What It Means: UB is 4-7 and on its first winning streak of the season. Niagara is 3-6 and still looking for its first back-to-back wins.

Gamesmanship: Niagara coach Joe Mihalich "established a rapport" with the officials in the early going, prompting Reggie Witherspoon to comment to a passing referee, "If he's going to stand up and referee, I'm going to stand up and referee." The fouls were about even late in the half, but Mihalich apparently objected to sto a call with 38.7 seconds left, was hit with a technical, and UB turned the foul and the "T" into four points and a 37-28 halftime lead.

In the House: Attendance numbered 4,012.

They Said It:
"I didn't use any bad language. I didn't use the magic word. I didn't throw my coat in the stands. -- Mihalich on his "T".

"I actually felt good out there, especially coming off an injury like I had. I would love to get back out there again and keep helping my team. All in all, it's great to be out there back on the court supporting my team." -- White on coming back off his injury.

"it's important to have another person out there that can shoot that shot (the three). It opens the court and that's what we've been working on. I think that fits right into Will's strengths, running the court." -- Witherspoon on the Bulls offensive emergence.

"With us opening the floor, that really helps out a lot. You can't really throw three guys down on Javon. You can't have two or three guys sagging in there because Tony (Watson) is hitting shots and Will is hitting shots." -- Oldham

"Seriously, it's been a while since I've gotten meaningful minutes in a game." -- Regan, who played sparingly his freshman year at Virginia and sat out last year as a transfer.

Next Up: UB is off until it visits Washington State on Dec. 21. Niagara plays four of its next five at home beginning with Hartford on Wednesday night.

-- Bob DiCesare

Temple 54, UB 39

How Temple Won: The Owls neutralized Javon McCrea by doubling down in the first half and dared the Bulls to beat them from the outside. It didn't happen. UB shot 23 percent overall in the half and just 20 percent (2 of 10) from behind the arc.

Turning Point: The game was tied 2-2 when UB proceeded to miss its next 13 shots. Temple had a 13-2 lead before Tony Watson finally ended the drought with 9:06 left in the half.

Player of the Game: Temple sophomore guard Will Cummings played a career-high 34 minutes and had nine points to go with six rebounds, three steals and two assists.

What It Means: Temple is 4-0 and starting to build some depth off the bench. UB fell to 2-6.

In the House: There were 3,201 on hand at Alumni Arena and probably a few of them caught a nap.

Bounce Back: Will Regan took at elbow to the forehead late in the first half, left for the locker room but returned after intermission and finished with nine points.

Stat Watch: UB had just six offensive rebounds and attempted a scant three free throws.

Stat Watch II: UB guards combined to go 3 of 21 from the field.

Next Up: UB travels to St. Bonaventure on Saturday night.

-- 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

UB football coach Jeff Quinn addressed a number of areas about the team in today's season-ending press conference.