Buffalo Bulls men's basketball

Buffalo Bulls
Buffalo Bulls
	2015–16 Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team
University	State University of New York at Buffalo
Head coach	Nate Oats (1st season)
Conference	Mid-American Conference; East Division
Arena	Alumni Arena ; (capacity: 6,100)
Nickname	Bulls
Colors	Royal blue and white;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
NCAA tournament appearances
	2015, 2016
Conference tournament champions
	2015, 2016
Conference regular season champions
	2015
Conference division season champions
	2014, 2015

The Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team represents the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, United States. The team currently competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East division. Buffalo began play in 1915 and joined the MAC in 1998. They won their first MAC East division title in 2014, and won a second East division title in 2015 along with their first MAC Regular-Season championship and first MAC Tournament title to earn the program's first bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. The Bulls also have six appearances in the NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship between 1957 and 1965 and one appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). They are coached by Nate Oats, who was hired as head coach in April 2015. Home games are played at the 6,100-seat Alumni Arena, which opened in 1982.

Conference affiliations

1915–16 to 1942–43 – Independent
1943–44 to 1944–45 – no team due to World War II
1945–46 to 1977–78 – Independent
1978–79 to 1987–88 – State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC)
1988–89 to 1990–91 – Mideast Conference
1991–92 to 1993–94 – East Coast Conference
1994–95 to 1997–98 – Mid-Continent Conference (Mid-Con)
1998–99 to present – Mid-American Conference

Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament

The Bulls have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament two times. Their combined record is 0–2.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
2015	12	Round of 64	#5 West Virginia	L 62–68
2016	14	Round of 64	#3 Miami	L 72–79

NCAA Division II Tournament results

The Bulls have appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament six times. Their combined record is 5–8.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1957	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight	Capital Evansville Kentucky Wesleyan	W 75–64 W 77–75 L 68–72
1958	Regional Semifinals Regional 3rd Place Game	American Wagner	L 60–77 L 65–72
1959	Regional Semifinals Regional 3rd Place Game	Saint Michael's Williams	L 51–53 W 78–53
1960	Regional Semifinals Regional 3rd Place Game	Wabash Arkansas State	L 65–76 W 53–52
1963	Regional Semifinals Regional 3rd Place Game	South Carolina State Youngstown State	L 63–80 L 53–65
1965	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals	Randolph-Macon Akron	W 81–69 L 58–69

NIT results

The Bulls have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) one time. Their record is 1–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2005	Opening Round First Round	Drexel Saint Joseph's	W 81–76 L 50–55

Alumni Arena

The Buffalo Bulls play their home games at Alumni Arena, located in Amherst, New York. The arena seats 6,100 spectators and features a state of the art video-board, sound, and lighting systems.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

Turner Battle: MAC Player of the Year (2005), former Bulls assistant coach
Yassin Idbihi: basketball player for Bayern Munich
Javon McCrea: basketball player for Medi Bayreuth of the Bundesliga
Sam Pellom: Played for the Atlanta Hawks (1979–82) & Milwaukee Bucks (1982–83)
Mitchell Watt, basketball player for Ironi Nes Ziona of the Israeli Basketball Super League

All-Americans

The following Buffalo players were named NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans:

Turner Battle – 2005 (AP Honorable Mention)^[2]
Mitchell Watt – 2012 (AP Honorable Mention)^[3]
Javon McCrea – 2014 (AP Honorable Mention)^[4]
Justin Moss – 2015 (AP Honorable Mention)^[5]

Academic All-Americans

The following Buffalo players were named Academic All-Americans:

Turner Battle – 2005

Mid-American Conference award recipients

Player of the Year

Turner Battle – 2005^[6]
Mitchell Watt – 2012^[6]
Javon McCrea – 2014^[6]
Justin Moss – 2015^[7]

Tournament MVP

Xavier Ford – 2015^[8]
Willie Conner – 2016^[9]

Coach of the Year

Reggie Witherspoon – 2004^[6]

Freshman of the Year

Javon McCrea – 2011^[6]

Sixth Man of the Year

Mark Bortz – 2005^[6]

Academic All-MAC

3

All-MAC teams

All-MAC First Team

Turner Battle – 2005^[6]
Rodney Pierce – 2009, 2010^[6]
Mitchell Watt – 2012^[6]
Javon McCrea – 2012, 2013, 2014^[6]
Justin Moss – 2015^[10]

All-MAC Second Team

Turner Battle – 2004^[6]
Calvin Cage – 2006^[6]
Byron Mulkey – 2011^[6]
Shannon Evans II – 2015^[10]

All-MAC Third Team

Lamonte Bearden – 2016^[11]
Blake Hamilton – 2016^[11]

All-Freshman Team

2

All-Defensive Team

Willie Conner – 2016^[11]

All-Tournament Team

3

References

^ "University at Buffalo Color Palette". Retrieved June 28, 2016.
^ "Hamilton Earns Honorable Mention All-America Honors". GoHolyCross.com. College of the Holy Cross. March 22, 2005. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ "Mitchell Watt Earns AP All-America Honorable Mention Honors". UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. March 26, 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ "Javon McCrea Named AP All-America Honorable Mention". UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. March 31, 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ "Justin Moss Named AP All-America Honorable Mention". UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. March 30, 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab "2014 MAC Record Book" (PDF). MAC-Sports.com. Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ "Justin Moss Named MAC Player Of The Year". UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. March 11, 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wright, Branson (March 14, 2015). "Buffalo Bulls forward Xavier Ford named MVP of MAC Tournament 2015: Notebook (photos)". Cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wright, Branson (March 12, 2016). "Buffalo Bulls' Willie Connor named tournament MVP: MAC Tournament 2016 (video)". Cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c "MAC Announces Men's Basketball All-MAC, All-Freshman Teams". MAC-Sports.com. Mid-American Conference. March 9, 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "MAC ANNOUNCES MEN'S HOOPS ALL-MAC, ALL-FRESHMAN & ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAMS". Mid-American Conference. March 7, 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

External links

Official website

[1] "University at Buffalo Color Palette". Retrieved June 28, 2016.

[2] "Hamilton Earns Honorable Mention All-America Honors". GoHolyCross.com. College of the Holy Cross. March 22, 2005. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[3] "Mitchell Watt Earns AP All-America Honorable Mention Honors". UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. March 26, 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[4] "Javon McCrea Named AP All-America Honorable Mention". UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. March 31, 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[5] "Justin Moss Named AP All-America Honorable Mention". UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. March 30, 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[2014RB-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab "2014 MAC Record Book" (PDF). MAC-Sports.com. Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[7] "Justin Moss Named MAC Player Of The Year". UBBulls.com. University at Buffalo Athletics. March 11, 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[2015att-8] Wright, Branson (March 14, 2015). "Buffalo Bulls forward Xavier Ford named MVP of MAC Tournament 2015: Notebook (photos)". Cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

[2016att-9] Wright, Branson (March 12, 2016). "Buffalo Bulls' Willie Connor named tournament MVP: MAC Tournament 2016 (video)". Cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

[2015teams-10] "MAC Announces Men's Basketball All-MAC, All-Freshman Teams". MAC-Sports.com. Mid-American Conference. March 9, 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[2016allmac-11] "MAC ANNOUNCES MEN'S HOOPS ALL-MAC, ALL-FRESHMAN & ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAMS". Mid-American Conference. March 7, 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

v t e Buffalo Bulls men's basketball
Venues	Clark Memorial Gymnasium (1938–1982) Alumni Arena (1982–present)
Culture & lore	Victor E. Bull "Victory March"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Mid-American Conference men's basketball
Teams	Akron Zips Ball State Cardinals Bowling Green Falcons Buffalo Bulls Central Michigan Chippewas Eastern Michigan Eagles Kent State Golden Flashes Miami RedHawks Northern Illinois Huskies Ohio Bobcats Toledo Rockets Western Michigan Broncos
Future teams	UMass Minutemen (joining in 2025)
Championships & awards	MAC tournament Regular season champions Player of the Year
Seasons	1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25