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Let’s celebrate and give thanks for two incredible teams and coaches which will go down in the record books of UB athletic history. Women after losing tons of talent and leadership win the MAC tournament over their nemesis and tremendous foe CMU to get to championship where they beat an excellent Ohio team. They overcame adversity with the suspension of Summer. They displayed grit against Rutgers and then fought UCONN for 40 minutes. As FLJ said for UCONN to get another NCAA title they had to go through BUFFALO! And she was not kidding. What a valiant effort! They put Buffalo women’s basketball on the map and earned the respect of everyone in women’s college basketball. Thank you Coach Jack! You are awesome! Thank you to the best individual basketball player to ever don a UB women’s basketball jersey. You gave thrills to many and made UB women’s basketball a must see for so many at UB and in the WNY community. We wish you well in your professional basketball journey and broadcasting career! The men! 32 f’ing wins! 32-4! 16-2 MAC regular season wins! Another MAC title! Another NCAA tournament appearance! Four in five years! UB men’s basketball like the the women’s team is known and respected nationally! Beating WVU! Beating SU in dome! Winning Belfast tourney! CJ dropping 43 in WVU! Nationally ranked first time ever! Ranked 19 consecutive weeks! Ranked as high as #14! Will likely be ranked at seasons end! Nate one of 11 nominees for NABC Coach of the Year! Character, class and integrity coursing through the program from coaches to players. Nate’s extension made possible by generous donors! Thank you all for being fantastic ambassadors for UB, Buffalo and WNY!

Relax people. If you are over emotional, take a nap and come back tomorrow. Nobody should be banned. Everyone and their mother knows how unbelievable this team was. We could only Hagen dreamed of being this good a few years ago. We must hold our head up high and get ready to support our future team who will continue to march us to new levels. Great season! Join me in being proud for this tough team.

This is really irrelevant to the title, but also nice reminder. Mark Few went to the sweet 16 four times in 15 years. Took him 15 years to get past that hump and made it to the elite 8 and then 2 years after that went to the title game and lost. I guess if we are patient enough, better things to come than the second round! (I'm really just trying to distill hope in everyone)

I echo all that was said above. As an alum I’m so proud of both programs and grateful for this run. Who knows what the future holds but at least I can say that in my lifetime Buffalo basketball dominated the MAC and won some tournament games. Let’s keep building. The best is yet to come.

I strongly agree with this statement. For the first time Nate’s game plan and in game adjustments, or lack there of, came up small. My biggest criticism was the constant attempts to drive to the rim into 3 lengthy defenders and force up shots or turn the ball over. It was clear TT was collapsing the defense yet we made no adjustment to penetrate and kick out to shooters on the perimeter or rotate the ball to an open shooter. We kept trying to force an up tempo style, which yes is our style, but we’ve proven we can also win games that are slower paced. We had success in the 1st posting Perkins up (they had no answer for him down low) yet we completely abandoned that and went back to iso ball with little ball movement. 11 assist 16 turnovers. Credit TT but top to bottom we were outclassed for 2 hours. Not indicative of who we were all season.

With all the negative comments here, all I can say is, we need to have our head's held high. I know mine is. I have sat through Cohan and Witherspoon, waiting for our time to come, waiting for the time for us to actually be in the tournament. We have have now been to 4 in the last 5 seasons. I never would have thought we'd ever end the season in the top 15. Well, we did. It's been one heck of a run. People here can sob about the Texas Tech game, it was not pretty, we got beat down, and it was a bad way to end a magical season.But folks, it's time to not dwell on yesterday and let's all think about tomorrow, think about the future and what we have. We have a ton of great players next year, with the potential to have Raymond Hawkins, which could be a recipe to a 25 win season. I can't help but to think of the good things that are ahead for the men's program.

TT's length killed us, they are scary good on the defensive end. Thank you to all the seniors who have worked your tails off throughout your careers. I will be hoping some of you can make the NBA and will continue to cheer you on at the next level. You have mad Buffalo a nationally recognizable name and changed the culture of the program. You will forever be legends of Buffalo basketball.

Tough day for Buffalo. For whatever reason, outside of Perkins who was a beast again, we just didn’t have it. Texas Tech had a lot to do with it. Somehow we clawed our way back but we just could not score in the second half. I have to watch the tape but that traveling call in the first half I though was pretty ridiculous. Could not score after that play. Min the end, Texas looked like they had the better team. They packed it in the middle and made it hard for us to score inside. We could have really used a outside shooting specialist today. Unfortunately we don’t have one although CJ is pretty close. i honestly think if we played again our team would fare better. It’s unfortunate that we played one of our worst offensive game to end the season but that is sports. Nothing seemed to go right today and it was one of those days. It was the worst loss for UB at the NCAAs. WVU, Miami, Kentucky, we had our chances in those games. It didn’t feel that way today. This team has put UB on the map. We will be back. We are knocking on the door. We’ve won two games in the NCAA in the last two years. That is an amazing feat.

As I drove home, I looked back at the season as a whole (instead of just today), and I refuse to be bitter about it. We had too much fun. So much to be proud of, so much to feel good about. The ride was going to end at some point though. Today however - you remember all those games this year when we would gripe about some things at halftime and then catch ourselves, "but they're up 12." Hey, the foul shooting was bad, or the three's weren't dropping, or they laid off during some stretches, but whatever, they ended up winning. At some point those things were going to catch up to them, and that day was today. Tons of credit to Texas Tech, they outplayed, outcoached, outworked UB. They were prepared, they knew how to defend the Bulls, they frustrated our scorers, they crashed the boards. This was the one time all year that I thought I saw some dejection and defeat in the faces of these Bulls. I liked how they weathered the early storm and came back, but the could not put together enough plays to keep it a game. The Bulls had shots that were open, they missed too many of them. Perkins - stepped up today in a game that needed it. CJ - plenty of garbage time buckets but was invisible most of the time before that Harris - wasn't afraid to shoot, but TT didn't let him drive the lane Jordan - knocked down a couple three's Graves - invisible like CJ most of the first 3/4 of the game Texas Tech - their rebounding was killing the Bulls. Not just second chance points - it kept the Bulls from hitting them up the floor quickly in transition. UB destroyed a taller Arizona State team on the boards on Friday, but Texas Tech had the height AND outworked and out-positioned them tonight. Everyone, this Red Raider team is a very good team. They're a 3 seed. I didn't like how this went down today but I'm not ashamed at losing to a better team. Thank you Bulls for representing the school and the community so well. We all had so much fun. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next year.

I think he is going to miss the press conference. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/25/michael-avenatti-to-be-charged-with-wire-and-bank-fraud.html

Poor officiating? You bet. But mostly poor shooting by UB against an outstanding defensive team. And our coaching was disappointing; I never thought I'd ever say that coach Oats was badly outcoached, but there's a first for everything. I have high hopes for next year and wish that the new season would start right away!

Gonzaga wasn't built in a day.

The standard is higher, that’s a good thing. It’s ok to be disappointed in the result. Blown out in back to back years in this round is frustrating. Now that the standard is higher it’s time to get over this next hump.

Now is the time for everyone on here to consider making their donation to the UB Excellence Funds of these teams. They've given everyone here a great experience over the last many months. Help ensure that they have the resources to make it continue! Every dollar helps!

This was a magical season - one that will be hard, if not impossible to forget. Part of it was watching a senior laden team so selflessly commit itself to doing everything within its power to bring recognition to itself and the University. I’m going to miss the seniors, and wish all of them luck in their future endeavors. They have set the bar for all the future Bulls.

I was at UB from 80-84 The biggest win we had was a D3 win against Buff State, they were ranked # 1 in D3 at the time, the first year Alumni Arena opened in about 83/84. This whole sports year was a dream. Bowl game in Football, NCAA tournament win in both Men's and Women's basketball. Moving up in sports competition. Coach Oat and Coach Legette-Jack are both big time. Can both basketball teams go at least 25 and 9 can the football team be bowl eligible. This year was a dream to watch the men play and be in the top 25 all year. This game sucked but GO UB, GO BULL UB you Bet.

And we would all be remiss to not congratulate Texas Tech. First time I saw them play this year. They’re outstanding. I wish them well going forward. They are the better team. They kept giving us body blows that wore our guys down as well as their will to fight. With that said I salute each and everyone of our guys and coaching staff. I would not trade them for TT or any team in the country. Well done boys! You made us all proud. We’ll miss our fine super seniors but will never forget what they did for the UB and Buffalo community. Just outstanding!! And what a strong foundation they’ve left. We’ll be following your careers as you move on and wish each of you the best. THANK YOU!!

The women played even (57 to 57) basketball with UCONN on their home court over the final 30 minutes of the game. That's one amazing feat. They showed so much heart out there. They owe no one anything considering the season that they had, after losing a great senior class last year. Sweet 16 then round of 32 and playing UCONN evenly in that? Damn, that's impressive.

I'm so tired of some of you "fans". With some of your comments, you show your lack of knowledge of sports and show that you've never put on a uniform in your life outside of tee-ball. When a team played as well as these guys did all year, and people still find fault, those who do are clearly morons. They went 32-4, a nearly 90% winning percentage, yet it's not good enough for some on here. In a single game, the best team doesn't always win, nor does the better team always play the best. The difference between many D-1 teams in the MAC is not 90%-10%, yet UB went 19-2 in the MAC, which still wasn't good enough according to some. It's irresponsible for anyone to think that UB should expect to win 32 games in a season or even 19 games in the MAC. How many teams in the whole country do either of those? Out of 353, what, a couple each year? Those numbers count both the "big" leagues and the "bad" leagues, which several of you on here consider the MAC a "bad" one, even though it's rated in the top third to quarter of the entire NCAA. In the end, it was a great season, and if it wasn't good enough for you, just leave and never return. Additionally, if you were someone who can't appreciate this season, or didn't enjoy every moment of it, you lost out big time, because it was one heck of a ride.

Guys let’s keep it civil. We each handle defeat differently. Today sucks. But one day doesn’t ruin a full season of accomplishments and heights never before reached.

PG) Davonta Jordan/Ronaldo Segu SG) Jayvon Graves/Gabe Grant/Savion Gallion W) Antwain Johnson/David Nickleberry F) Jeenathan Williams/Tra'von Fagan/David Skogman(RS) F)Josh Mballa/ LaQuill Hardnett/Brock Bertram (HURT)

With a season like the one we just had, and an incredible senior class graduating, it's tough to imagine that we reach the same level of success next season. Moving forward, we have enough pieces in place that we should be able to at least contend for the MAC and get back in the tournament. For us to get there, we are going to need some development out of our returning players. Here's what I would like to see from each player: Jordan - He has to be our leader next year. Graves should be the best player, but Jordan will be the most important player. I want to see Jordan become more reliable as a decision maker, and aim for an assist/turnover rate at around 2.5. 5 assists per game and 2 turnovers per game will get the job done (Currently at 3.7 APG and 2.3 TPG). Obviously he needs to become a competent free throw shooter, and I think he can do that. His 3 point shot is reliable enough that he can knock them down sometimes, and I want it to get to a point where I feel like it's going in if he's open. Overall, I want Jordan's stats to be around 12 PPG 4 RPG 5 APG 2 SPG 2 TPG 38% 3P 60% FT Graves - A lot of our fate lies in his hands. I don't think he's necessarily the next CJ, probably a tad worse. But I'd love to be proven wrong. I think what we need most out of Graves is for him to become a threat to create his own shot. A lot of his shots this year were spot up 3's and putbacks. If he's our best scorer, he's going to need more ways to get a bucket. He's got the athleticism to be able to break a defender down and he's got the shooting ability to pull up for a shot on a defender. I think he just needs to be more confident in his ball handling ability and he will become much more of an iso threat. This is what I would like out of Graves next year: 16 PPG 6 RPG 3 APG 1 SPG 1 BPG 47% FG 40% 3P 75% FT Williams - Each of the last two years we've seen a player make a huge leap from freshman to sophomore year, first Jordan and then Graves. I would like to see both Williams and Segu make this leap. We have a hole at the 4 position to fill, and Williams seems like the most likely guy to fill it. I feel like Williams can make a leap even bigger than Jordan and Graves. It felt like he got better as the season went on. You know how Harris is able to break down a lot of big guys off the dribble and get to the basket? Williams is quicker than Harris, and he's going to be guarded by these same big guys. The key for Harris though is that he's a legitimate threat from 3, so his defender has to play him tight and it allows for Harris to drive. Williams isn't exactly a threat from 3. If we can get Williams to shoot even 30% on 3's, that's just enough where the defender will have to guard him on the 3 point line. He will blow by any big guy that guards him out there. Defensively, Williams has a lot of potential. A year under his belt should help him play smarter. I'm hoping Williams can get to this point next year: 9 PPG 6 RPG 1 APG 1 SPG 1 BPG 48% FG 30% 3P 65% FT Segu - Hoping for a similar freshman to sophomore leap as Jordan or Graves. It feels like the starting backcourt next year will be Jordan/Johnson/Graves, so I'm thinking that Segu will be the 6th man next season. Watching Segu this season, it was easy to sense the raw talent, but it came with some poor decisions offensively at times, thus leading to a shorter leash from Coach Oats. By the end of the year, it felt like Segu tried too hard to play under control. He was afraid to look for his own shot and preferred to drive and kick, but defenses were aware and stole the kick passes a lot of the time. I feel like Segu is really going to benefit from the additional playing time next year. He's got a lot to work on with his decision making, but it's tough to really improve on decision making without the experience against D1 defenses. His shooting is solid already, he's got a strong handle on the ball, he's quick enough to get past defenders, and he's a willing passer. Give him a few years to develop more and he will be a nightmare to guard. Defensively, I think Segu will benefit from having the mentorship of Caruthers/Jordan/Massinburg this past year. Segu liked to guard opposing ball handlers full court, which he actually did a good job of making their lives at least a little more difficult in initiating their offense. But he had two huge problems defensively: too small to get through screens, and lacking awareness to be able to effectively guard players off-ball. These things need to change or else he's not getting much more playing time next year. If he can add some muscle and make better decisions, he's going to be really good. I think he's an all-MAC player his junior year and a potential MAC POY by his senior year. For now, I want him here: 9 PPG 3 RPG 3 APG 1 SPG 1.5 TPG 45% FG 38% 3P 75% FT. The other guys we don't really know that well. Johnson seems like a starter right away based on his stats at Middle Tennessee. If JUCO rankings are accurate at all, then Allen seems like the favorite to start at center. Noah Williams/Hawkins are good recruits, but who knows how well it will translate to a productive freshman year. Rojas should be in the rotation. Grant has had a year to practice with the team, so I anticipate that he will get a shot at minutes too. If I were to guess the lineup, I would say Jordan/Johnson/Graves/J. Williams/Allen with Segu/N. Williams/Grant/Rojas/Hawkins off the bench (Hopefully not getting ahead of myself with the Hawkins talk before he has committed). This leaves Fagan/Bertram/Cadwell out of the rotation. I don't have a good feeling about Fagan and Bertram, considering we were playing a football player in the rotation ahead of those two for certain parts of the year. Hopefully this will motivate them to improve their games in the offseason. Cadwell is ranked rather low on the JUCO rankings. I'm sure he'll get a chance at minutes, but I don't think we will play 11 guys. For now he seems like the odd man out. All in all, this was an incredible season. This was the best senior class in school history, and there is no way that our newcomers can match the production that they put up. But if our returners up their games and take on bigger roles, and some of our recruits and transfers are able to make instant impacts, the blueprint is there to get another chance at a tournament run. Go Bulls!

If somebody doubled my salary (after an already 30%ish raise) and moved me out to a state without income tax for the same job, I'd be there next day. Good thing I am not in charge of this program.

Two very good forecasts for next year. Do agree one very big key is how much Jordan improves in all aspects of his game. If he does not improve some other player will have to step up. On paper all the opinions look good if it shows on the floor. The key as always is can these players mesh together and have success.In order to gain confidence they have to win games and show individual progress. I point to the women’s season. With the loss of 3/4 of the starting team there was not an expectation that they could achieve that much success. It was the incredible work of the coaching staff and the players mindset, hard work and never give up that they achieved success. Nate and the incoming players will have to show that same work attitude. Our family will remember our Cleveland journey forever, Go Bulls!!!!!

First of all congratulations on your repeat to the NCAA and winning a game both years. A ceiling, once you break through can become a floor. Granted hard to maintain but think playing into the second weekend should always be a goal.

Yes actually, it was about the officiating. I called the officiating embarrassing while the game was happening too. Regardless though I’m proud of this team, being ranked is something I’ve always wanted this team and town to experience, and now it finally happened. Regardless of our amazing senior class, the recruiting class is special this year and there’s always a huge improvement from a players freshman to sophomore year. Who knows how Segu and Jeenathan will improve. There will be a drop off for sure next year, but I don’t think it will be anywhere near as bad as people are expecting.

This. The sooner this is recognized the better. Any frustration out of us is due to this underlying fact. It's great to be a top 25 program, but can we take that step to be top 16? I think this is what some of the fans want to see.

lol, I can’t win. I get accused by the local media for being a Pom-Pom waver and by you as too negative. Have you read or listened to any of my stuff? If not, I’d appreciate you not commenting on my style of fanhood or trying to “kick out” one of the most active members of this board. That’s middle school of you to want someone to leave because they have a different opinion. I plan to stay credentialed for this team, I’m sorry if you don’t like my opinions, but many do. The team has told me to my face they like the coverage I give to the program. I’ve personally turned 100s on to this program over the last few years. Message boards are here for our live thoughts and don’t need your approval or audits before posting.

I’m not a fair weather fan if that was directed towards me. I’ve been going to their games since I’ve been born. The embarrassing was in regards to TT being in the double bonus practically 5 minutes into the 2nd half.

Don’t tell me to GTFO. I’ve been a fan of this team since I was born 22 years ago. I’ve seen great seasons and horrible seasons. And that “embarrassing” was in regards to the officiating.

I’m upset about the game. We shot like crap and got worked on the boards, our guards looked timid and they got us out of our ball movement. I’m also over it. We just went 32-4 this program is on the national stage and hopefully Oats and Co. Stick around to keep this thing rolling.

Well said. Much better than a certain knucklehead on this board. Thanks for the excellent commentary all season long. Always enjoyed reading your posts.

Either way...splat. Lol Go Bulls. Sh*tty ending but great season.

What a finish. All fight until the last horn. We took UConn to the brink, just couldn't get over the hump. Hell of a ride for the ladies. Can't wait to see another championship in the MAC next year 🙂

Didn't get to see the game today...was in flight the entire time. I just asked my son what happened. He said "bad UB offense and good TTU defense". In reading this thread, that seems to be a reasonable distillation of what happened. When the brackets came out, I hated this matchup TTU had a very strong year. I wish we would have made it a better game, but that did not happen. Oh well. Sometimes you are the windshield and that was our fate tonight. But it was an amazing, fantastic year. I am proud of both WBB and MBB. I have never been prouder to be a Bulls fan. Go Bulls!

They will be back next year. Hopefully some of those who are negative now and always just go away. This team has been nothing but a joy all year. One less than stellar performance tonight doesn't change that. The metrics say that this team is excellent, even though some people on here who never played a sport in their life, disagree. 32 wins by Buffalo, something most schools in ALL of the ncaa has never reached. Job well done boys, job well done.

Obviously this is painful. Obviously we all thought this was a second weekend caliber team. Obviously this wasn’t our best effort on the floor and coaching. It may be some time before we get another group of seniors like this group. We have talent returning and coming in next year but slice it however you want there will be a drop off next season. Next season comes down to 3 days in March. And next season we go back to being just another mid major and potential Cinderella. This season was a fun ride. Just wish it wouldn’t have ended with a lackluster 20 point blow out. It wasn’t his best game plan today but as long as Nate is here we will bust through someday.

You’re embarrassing yourself

Three point shooting was not a consistent strength of the Bulls despite a 32 - 3 record going into today’s game. Today, against a top defense, it utterly failed. In fact, all the wheels came off the bus. In a way it’s better than losing a close one where a single Bull blew an assignment, missed a gimme, or threw the ball away. They won as a team all year (or longer) long. They lost as a team today. What a great group of young men! Where do I sign to get more of this?? What a great team! What great coaching staff! Go Bulls!!

Just sucks it ends this way. A complete melt down from top to bottom. At least last year it was a game until about the 10 minute mark before Kentucky ran away. I just didn’t understand the game plan of forcing drives and forcing shots. TT was allowing us to drive then surrounding the driver with 3 long bodies...at that point we should’ve kicked the ball out and swung it around the perimeter to the open shooter. Like we’ve done all season...instead tonight we forced up shots. I don’t get it. Why was that the game plan and why wasn’t it abandoned quickly.

Through Texas Tech

Well, this is a really sorry way to end the season. Talk about going down in a blazing fireball. Still proud as hell of our guys. Absolutely the best season, just wish we could send CJ, Perk, Dante, and McRae out on a better note.

This is over. Awesome year and I couldn’t be more proud of our boys.