reno7274
02-15-2005, 02:38 PM
I have taken some time off from hoops, but I'm hoping to slowly come back and be back into it by tourney time. But this Kent/Buffalo is one that stands out tonight for me. A little background on how and why I see this game as a strong Buffalo play.
Buffalo made great strides last year, winning a MAC tourney game and gaining an NIT bid. This was after being, not only the worst team in the MAC but the worst in Div. 1-A for quite a few years after moving to Div. 1-A. All that changed last year when they went to Kent and lost 4 as a 14 pt dog. That gave them confidence that spurred a late season run, including a 16 point home win two weeks later as a 4 pt. dog. Buffalo has always thought of Kent as the measuring stick of the very deep MAC conference.
This year Buffalo returned all 5 starters and had high expectations in the MAC. But the conference is very deep, and Buffalo finds itself in 5th place in the East division, one half game back of 3 teams including Kent. They lost a tough OT game to Kent on the road earlier, so this is a must win. Added to the revenge is this interesting sidebit from that game. Because of a snowstorm in the Midwest on that day, the MAC switched the officiating crew for the game to one that didn't have to travel far. Problem for Buffalo was that one of the officials was a Kent graduate. Needless, to say coach Reggie Witherspoon did as much complaining as he could to do to the MAC after the fact, and the stats seem to bare him out. Buffalo was called for 29 fouls to 15 for Kent, leading to a 37 to 20 free attempt advantage. 2 players fouled out and 3 more had 4 fouls for the game.
Because of all this, you can expect top performance from Buffalo tonight. Only one thing that scares me is the fact that Kent is coming off a home loss, so they will be looking for a bounceback.
But I think, Buffalo gets a comfortable home win here, as they prepare for their stretch run. Also, for stat players, Buffalo has covered 4 straight at home in the series and 3 overall.
Take Buffalo -3.5, and Best of Luck on the Rest of the Night
Buffalo made great strides last year, winning a MAC tourney game and gaining an NIT bid. This was after being, not only the worst team in the MAC but the worst in Div. 1-A for quite a few years after moving to Div. 1-A. All that changed last year when they went to Kent and lost 4 as a 14 pt dog. That gave them confidence that spurred a late season run, including a 16 point home win two weeks later as a 4 pt. dog. Buffalo has always thought of Kent as the measuring stick of the very deep MAC conference.
This year Buffalo returned all 5 starters and had high expectations in the MAC. But the conference is very deep, and Buffalo finds itself in 5th place in the East division, one half game back of 3 teams including Kent. They lost a tough OT game to Kent on the road earlier, so this is a must win. Added to the revenge is this interesting sidebit from that game. Because of a snowstorm in the Midwest on that day, the MAC switched the officiating crew for the game to one that didn't have to travel far. Problem for Buffalo was that one of the officials was a Kent graduate. Needless, to say coach Reggie Witherspoon did as much complaining as he could to do to the MAC after the fact, and the stats seem to bare him out. Buffalo was called for 29 fouls to 15 for Kent, leading to a 37 to 20 free attempt advantage. 2 players fouled out and 3 more had 4 fouls for the game.
Because of all this, you can expect top performance from Buffalo tonight. Only one thing that scares me is the fact that Kent is coming off a home loss, so they will be looking for a bounceback.
But I think, Buffalo gets a comfortable home win here, as they prepare for their stretch run. Also, for stat players, Buffalo has covered 4 straight at home in the series and 3 overall.
Take Buffalo -3.5, and Best of Luck on the Rest of the Night