We are set for tip-off here at SIU Arena. It is the first of two meetings between the #25 Buffalo Bulls and the Southern Illinois Salukis. Both teams have high postseason aspirations. Should be an outstanding game tonight!
Note: Armon Fletcher who was injured against Kentucky on Frday, did not dress tonight. Big loss for the Salukis.
Montrell McRae opens up the scoring with a wide open dunk. The teams traded baskets. Kavion Pippin had a sweet stroke, ruled a two. Buffalo’s Davonta Jordan answered with a trey. SIU came right back at the Bulls with a triple from Marcus Bartley. Thik Bol came in off the bench and contributed right away with a beautiful jumper himself. 1st Media Timeout - SIU 13, Buffalo 8
Sean Lloyd keeps things rolling with another Salukis three pointer. Eventually Buffalo would manage to get a couple of stops. CJ Massinburg calmed the storm with a layup and later in the sequence, Nick Perkins had a beautiful post up and layed it in. 2nd Media Timeout - SIU 16, Buffalo 12
Unfortunately notes not saved. 3rd Media Timeout - SIU 20, Buffalo 16.
Caruthers catches SIU sleeping and gets a quick layup. SIU’s McGill continues to play with two early fouls and connects from downtown, giving the Salukis a five point advantage. Perklins continues to be a matchup problem, drew a foul down low. Connected on both free throws. Aaron Cook is impressive. Cook slashed into the lane and dropped a floater in the basket over the outstretched arms of Perkins. Later in the sequence Cook manages to knife into the lane again and connects again. CJ Massinburg hits a corner three to silence the fans. SIU 27, Buffalo 23 - 4th Media Timeout.
Shot clock violation by SIU following an airball by Bartley. Bartley then commits a foul on McRae. McRae makes the first, misses the second - but Bulls get their own rebound and eventually Massinburg hits a pretty floater. Bulls only down by 1. Another stop for Buffalo, Jeenathan Williams takes it strong and is fouled. Williams hits both and Buffalo has its first lead tonight. Aaron Cook picks up his 2nd and Buffalo is in the double bonus for the final 28.6 seconds. Jeremy Harris hits a huge three with 4 seconds left in the half and the Bulls go on an 11-0 run to end the first half. Halftime Buffalo 31, SIU 27.
Pippin opens the 2nd Half scoring with a nice driving layup. Buffalo's Jeremy Harris with a smooth open dunk for the Bulls. Lloyd draws a foul, and makes one of two from the line. UB's Graves hits a silencing three ball. Cook and McGill are both playing with three fouls now. Crowd is vocally upset with the officials. 1st Media Timeout - Buffalo 38, SIU 32.
SIU's Darius Beane finds some open space along the baseline and hits a pretty 15-footer. UB reserve guard Ronaldo Segu answers with a nice driving shot. Bulls back up six. Pippin comes back and drills a nice jumper. But UB's Graves immediately hits a triple. Bulls get a stop, Massinburg jacks a one on one three which was way off, then the Salukis turn it back over. A bit sloppy now. 2nd Media TO Buffalo 43, SIU 36
Perkins commits a foul on Pippin, and Pippin connects on both - cuts the lead to five. Harris answers for the Bulls. Pippin responds with a baby hook in the paint. Jordan hits another big three in the corner. Buffalo has their largest lead at eight. Lloyd draws a foul on Massinburg, Lloyd hits one of two. Salukis left McRae open in the corner for three, and McRae makes them pay. 3rd Media TO Buffalo 51, SIU 41
Bartley fouls Williams and Williams makes both FTs. Pippin responds with a dunk. Incredible vision by Caruthers to hit Williams underneath for an easy deuce on a one handed almost no look pass. Bulls lead by 12. Starting to work the clock on each possession. Thik Bol misses a jumper and on the other end Massinburg serves up an alley-oop to McRae. Bulls by 14. 4th Media TO Buffalo 60, SIU 43
Buffalo finishes the job in the final four minutes. Mostly spending the time running the clock out and forcing more Saluki mistakes. The Bulls defense suffocated SIU for most of the final 30 minutes an impressive showing and anouther huge road win for Buffalo. FINAL Buffalo 62, SIU 53