NIU at UB - 12:00 PM - ESPN+

[Tee4three]

Interesting that haven't seen Madding or Caesar yet today 

[UBinMD]

6 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Good team basketball. The ball movement and extra pass has been great today. Still have the wildness and turnovers but it’s coming from a place of unselfishness. I think this team’s identity will be one where they don’t depend on any one player to carry them but the low key offensive leader is Curtis Jones. 

Definitely from a place of unselfishness. There are going to be lots of games where we get 4 maybe 5 players in double figure points I think. Our rebounding has gotten much better after the beginning of the game. Once we tired out NIU their offensive rebounding dried up quite a bit 

[UBinMD]

7 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

Interesting that haven't seen Madding or Caesar yet today 

Madding was on the sideline to come in for about 2 minutes at the end of the half, but there was never a stoppage. We may see them the last last 3 minutes to mop this up 

[squire17]

10 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

That was a great pass to Adams though, he draws a lot of attention 

True. Maybe not a hog, but he seems to hold the ball a lot, or one on one it too much. 

[Tee4three]

9 minutes ago, squire17 said:

True. Maybe not a hog, but he seems to hold the ball a lot, or one on one it too much. 

The ball sticks when it gets to Powell, don't think he is a hog though

Just has to learn when it's ok to have it stick vs continuing to move the ball/put the shot up

[DooleyBull06]

A TCB kinda win. Good to see them string two games back to back and not let winning go to their heads. 2-0 to start conference play, we’d all sign up for that. Team is trending upwards. Now let’s see how they handle life on the road.

[enrique14150]

The Bulls controlled this one from start to finish.  Unlike the last one, they came out of the gates fast with a couple three's and other than a point in the second half where NIU pulled to within 10, that's as close as they were going to get.  The passing was outstanding today!  Except for a few that were overly ambitious.  NIU tried a zone and UB moved it around fast enough and hit outside shots, it blew it apart.  That one sequence near the end of the first half, it moved quick between 3 or 4 players and got Jack cutting underneath for a layup, that was one of the prettiest setups we've seen in a while.  Rebounding - the Bulls destroyed them 50-28 on the boards. 19 offensive rebounds.  The 3's were dropping today, that helped a lot.  The only thing was the foul shooting was poor, for a team that was doing that well earlier in the season.  15 turnovers on some plays they got too fancy or were getting sloppy when they were up 15+.  The activity and intensity was there on defense again.  2-0 start in MAC play - we'll see what they can do with the next challenge, which is to show they can win on the road.

Curtis - I keep reminding myself he's just a sophomore.  He's been that dead-eye outside shooter that this team has been missing for a couple years.  But he's good at rebounding too - developing into an all-around player.  
Jack - I've noticed that he's getting minutes ahead of Jo Smith.  His offensive movement is great, he's getting smarter under the basket on rebounds and is reacting quicker, which means he isn't fouling as much.  Possibly his best game so far.
Adams - shot better today than on Tuesday.  He's very active at keeping the ball alive for rebounds.
Foster - I thought he had a strong game, other than that he's in a funk at the line. He's tougher underneath the basket for rebounds than his stature would suggest.
Zid - this was a good game to get him back in the swing of things.  He's forceful - the kind of player who will take as many charges as he draws.  And yet has a creative eye for passes.  He scores in spurts.
Hardnett - another solid game, building one on another.  Almost another double-double. He has so much more confidence with the ball than he used to.
Jo Smith - he's been a little fumbly with the ball, I think he's pushing to play tougher and more assertive.
Blocker - he's playing a lot of minutes off the bench, which shows the depth this team has right now. Only hit one of his shots but he's like the rest, he has a lot of potential.

NIU - for the fact that I thought they battled well underneath and got more put-backs than I liked...UB destroyed them on rebounds.  They got behind and didn't have the ability to shut UB down and grind back into it.  My brother noted that NIU tended to drive to the left side of the basket, then try to kick it back the other way.  I wonder if that's something they saw on tape that UB was vulnerable to, and if that's something other teams will try.

I have noticed that for some veteran-heavy teams, if there's a bad stretch the coach will let it ride and let the players figure it out.  I feel like Whitesell has been doing the opposite this season - when he sees something wrong, or maybe 2 bad possessions, he's calling timeout or pulling that person off to correct them.

This team is a lot better than they were 2 months ago.  They really brought their game this week and there's just so much potential there, individually and collectively.  I hope more of you get to the arena because they are fun to watch.

[MuchMany]

1 hour ago, squire17 said:

Powell’s a hog.

*dog

Had a couple funny interactions with him courtside today. He seems like a cool kid.

Fun game, great ball movement. We seem to be getting penetration at will these days, but sometimes don't know what to do with it after. If we keep figuring that out, and Curtis, Adams, etc keep shooting well from deep, I think we're in good shape.

[enrique14150]

12 minutes ago, MuchMany said:

*dog

Had a couple funny interactions with him courtside today. He seems like a cool kid.

Fun game, great ball movement. We seem to be getting penetration at will these days, but sometimes don't know what to do with it after. If we keep figuring that out, and Curtis, Adams, etc keep shooting well from deep, I think we're in good shape.

Still a work in progress - but progress is definitely evident.

[Ubbulls84]

Nice win, Jack making strides. Gonna need him if we are going to have a chance at winning this. These next 3 games gonna be a big tell tale of where we stand in the conference. Miami of Ohio a game we should win but always scary with Mekhi Lairy as he can go off and drop 30+ on you. Brutal stretch second half of the month against Toledo, ball state, Kent state and Akron. Need to have a strong showing these next few.. 

[squire17]

22 minutes ago, Ubbulls84 said:

Nice win, Jack making strides. Gonna need him if we are going to have a chance at winning this. These next 3 games gonna be a big tell tale of where we stand in the conference. Miami of Ohio a game we should win but always scary with Mekhi Lairy as he can go off and drop 30+ on you. Brutal stretch second half of the month against Toledo, ball state, Kent state and Akron. Need to have a strong showing these next few.. 

Watching Kent at Miami. Miami has a guy, Anderson Mirambeaux, who’s 6’8” and is listed at 305 - but looks like possibly 325, and moves like he’s…sub 300. It will be interesting to see how Jack does versus him.

[skrabukes]

Another great team win. This was never in doubt today. Almost boring, knowing it was in hand the whole way (I'll take a season of boring like this though!). Just love seeing effort and team ball. Knocking down shots helps too. 2-0 today, including the women, 3-1 overall. Not half bad!

[bullsbball]

23 hours ago, dj_paige said:

Women's Basketball vs Central Michigan today at Alumni Arena, 2:30pm, ESPN+

Second game of doubleheader, women looking for their first MAC win after nearly taking down Kent State earlier this week

Totally flat in the 3rd quarter. Leading by 18 at the half and be down by 6 early in the 4th quarter. Complete lack of energy on defense. Gave up 63% from the field and 50% from 3-point in the 3rd. Good to seem then turn it around in the 4th after Stone made some baskets. And good FT shooting in the 4th by Young and Winfield.

[John]

Will be interesting to see how the energy levels of the players can hold up as many of these MAC games will be physical and high intensity. It seemed like the players came out in the 3rd quarter after that big lead and could relax a little. To the players and coach Burke’s credit their defensive and offensive intensity changed in the 4th. With their smaller and very young frontline they will have problems with bigger and stronger frontlines of other teams as what happened against CMU center that dominated in the 3rd quarter. If Winfield, Stone and Young can continue their excellent play and Mashaire and Salmons can continue to play on both ends down low and continue to improve it can be a very exciting year when at the start of the year the unknowns were there in full display. Just a good and promising start to conference play by both teams. Go Bulls!!!