Who would have thought a day would come where Buffalo would beat Syracuse and it would not be an upset? Better yet, who would have thought such a day would come where that same result also was not in a historically bad year for the Orange?
Welcome to the 2018-19 season everyone. Syracuse is good. Buffalo is better, at least right now. And when it counted between these two teams, Buffalo was better, especially in the second half, as the Bulls beat the Orange 71-59.
Buffalo was on a lot of radars entering the season thanks to their blowout of Arizona in the NCAA Tournament last year, and rightly so. They have a solid nucleus loaded with experience, led by a big-game player in C.J. Massinburg, who lived up to that again on Tuesday night. Massinburg had 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists, but more than that, he was in seemingly every big play. He had 19 points in the second half, and his plays ranged from assisting on the three-pointer by Jeremy Harris (18 points) that put them ahead for the first time in the second half to two big jumpers that doubled a five-point lead approaching the final minutes of the game. He also grabbed three rebounds in the final minute, including, fittingly, the one that closed out the game.
Buffalo outscored Syracuse 39-23 in the second half, with much of that coming after the early minutes as Syracuse did well to keep a safe distance from the Bulls at first. The Bulls were relentless on the glass, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds to finish with a big 48-35 rebounding edge. That helped them overcome shooting just 37 percent from the field and turning the ball over 16 times. Syracuse didn’t help their cause by going 5-13 from the free throw line in addition to giving the ball away 16 times themselves.
To be sure, this is not Jim Boeheim’s best team. No one will look at this team and think there is a wealth of Final Four or national championship potential. They won’t make anyone forget the Syracuse team that won it all in 2003, or even the national runner-up team in 1987 that was loaded with talent. But this is a team that should be good enough to reach the NCAA Tournament, even after losing two straight home non-conference games for the first time in my lifetime (1975 was the last time it happened).
All the same, this will be a quality win when it’s all said and done for the Bulls. In a sense, they may have needed this a little more than previously thought given that West Virginia has been just okay. In the end, West Virginia will probably be fine and in the NCAA Tournament, as they should figure some things out by the time Big 12 play gets going, so the Bulls’ win over them should look pretty good. The Bulls have also won at Southern Illinois and St. Bonaventure (with Courtney Stockard back), wins that don’t really move the NCAA needle but are nice nonetheless. They have one more big non-conference test on Friday at Marquette.
As long as Buffalo doesn’t fall apart in MAC play – say, an 11-7 or 10-8 mark – the Bulls should be in great shape for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when it’s all said and done. Should they win the MAC’s auto bid, they should be in line for a good seed. They have proven they can beat good teams on the road, and have frankly been a lot better than a lot of teams in conferences that are having down years. The Pac-12’s struggles have been well-documented (and continued on Tuesday), the Big East is down, the Big 12 is down, the American Athletic Conference at best looks like a three-big league, and the Atlantic 10 might be a one-bid league. In other words, there is room to include the Bulls.
And after Tuesday night, when they beat a Syracuse team that they should have beat save for the game being in the Carrier Dome, there should be even more room to do that than there was when the day began.
Side Dishes
Yes, you read that right – the Big 12 is down. But that doesn’t say much given how strong the conference has been in recent years, and it doesn’t mean there aren’t some very good teams there. Kansas romped over South Dakota 89-53 and Oklahoma took care of Creighton 83-70 to keep things going. The Sooners have been a pleasant surprise as many thought they would take a step back after watching Trae Young run off to the NBA, but they are 10-1 with wins over Wofford, Florida, Notre Dame, Wichita State (a blowout – granted, the Shockers are rebuilding), USC and now Creighton. However, Baylor is dragging them down during a slump year, as they lost to Stephen F. Austin 59-58 to fall to 6-4.
Speaking of USC, they were the fall guys for the Pac-12 on the night, although Stanford barely got by San Jose State 78-73 and Oregon had to hold off Florida A&M 71-64. Santa Clara beat the Trojans 102-92 in double overtime, dropping USC to 5-6. While USC has not played a soft schedule, they haven’t picked up wins to boost their or the conference’s profile with those opportunities. Only one of their losses has come to a team that would not be in the NCAA Tournament if it began today.
The Tennessee–Memphis rivalry has a lot of new life, and if Saturday’s meeting between the two didn’t already tell you that, Penny Hardaway’s comments at a Tuesday news conference will. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Hardaway took exception to some of Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes’ comments about the Tigers’ defense and a scuffle near the end of the game, and said after it concluded, “Rick Barnes, get the (expletive) out of here.”
The latest part of the saga at UConn regarding the firing of Kevin Ollie came on Tuesday, as the former head coach filed a complaint against the school in federal court. The complaint alleges that the school tried to stop him from filing a racial discrimination claim regarding his firing, alleging disparate treatment compared with Jim Calhoun, his predecessor, former boss and college coach at the school. It cites Calhoun committing NCAA violations more serious than the ones Ollie was accused of and being able to keep his job, while Ollie was specifically fired for cause. Anyone who has paid attention understands that the school fired Ollie for cause in hopes of avoiding paying him the approximately $10 million left on his contract and nothing more. Had the Huskies made two straight NCAA Tournament appearances instead of two straight losing seasons, Ollie would still have a job, especially given the budgetary issues in the athletic department and the state.
We knew Kansas State would be without Dean Wade for some time, but now we know the extent of his injury and it’s not good. The senior big man has a partial tear of a tendon in his right foot, and he could be done for the regular season as he could miss eight weeks of action. Besides that, he would have to get back into game shape as well. Wade missed most of their run to the Elite Eight last season with a fractured left foot, and it’s a tough blow for a young man who has developed in his time in college and returned to school after last season.
Tonight’s Menu
The slate is very busy with a number of games before the evening hours included.
- St. John’s puts their undefeated mark on the line against cross-town rival St. Francis Brooklyn (6:30 p.m.
- Tennessee’s latest challenge will come in the form of a visit from 10-2 Samford (7 p.m.)
- A pair of ACC-SEC matchups of note are on the slate with Virginia visiting South Carolina and NC State hosting Auburn, both tipping at 7 p.m.
- A sleeper rivalry matchup in the New York area is on tap as Hofstra goes to Stony Brook (7 p.m.)
- Fresh off their win at UCLA, Belmont hosts a dangerous Western Kentucky team (7:30 p.m.)
- Mississippi State looks to keep their early run going as they host Wofford (8 p.m.)
- Arizona gets a visit from Big Sky favorite Montana (8:30 p.m.)
- A matchup with two teams trying to bounce back from a Saturday loss is on tap as UCLA visits Cincinnati (9 p.m.)
- A later ACC-SEC matchup has Georgia Tech going to Arkansas (9 p.m.)
- Two solid mid-major programs that are a little down this year meet as Bucknell visits Saint Mary’s (10 p.m.)
- One other game out west that has the potential to be a good one is Fresno State hosting Cal (10 p.m.)
