TULSA, OK (WKBW) — For the second straight year, the UB men's basketball team is headed to the next round. The Bulls, the 6th seed in the West Region, topped 11th seed Arizona State 91-74 in Sunday's round of 64.
Nick Perkins and Jeremy Harris each had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the win while CJ Massinburg added 18 points and six rebounds.
Game Observations:
Balanced and deep:
All season, we've seen UB play with a balanced offensive attack and Friday's game was no different. The Bulls had four guys end in double figures with another four guys landing on the stat sheet in scoring. UB is a dangerous team because of their depth and they proved that in their win over Arizona State.
"That's one of the reasons why we win games and why we're so good as a team", senior CJ Massinburg told 7 Eyewitness News after the game. "You can't just key in on just one guy because there's multiple guys on this team that are capable of killing you."
Attacking the glass:
Once UB found out they were playing Arizona State, they put a lot of their focus on rebounding. That paid off. UB out-rebounded the Sun Devils by nine offense and six on defense. Of their 91 points, 16 of them were off second chances.
"I told these guys coming in, if we can get our turnovers down and win the rebounding battle, I think we'll win," Coach Nate Oats said after the win. "We dominated them on the glass, which was big because we were undersized. The rebounding I was really proud of the way the guys battled on the boards."
Good things come in 3's:
UB likes the long ball and they're pretty good at it. Arizona State is not, especially on Friday. The Bulls finished 10-of-27 from three-point range. It wasn't their best performance of the season, but the only way you're gonna hit a three is if you take one. UB did plenty of that. The Sun Devils? They were just 3-of-22.
"We did an unbelievable job guarding the three-point line," Oats said. "I thought our kids played hard and they had tired legs, and we definitely didn't want to give up inside play. We were fronting the post. They skipped it a couple times, got some open looks and did the right thing. Just missed them."
Next Up:
UB will play 3rd seed Texas Tech on Sunday, March 24th. The Red Raiders topped 14th seed Northern Kentucky 72-57.
