Published: January 11, 2007 12:03 am      

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Bulls' effort is lackluster in loss to Kent

AMHERST — Buffalo and Kent State each lost their Mid-American Conference openers in the closing seconds Sunday.

One team responded to the challenge, avoiding an 0-2 start in league play. The Bulls, according to their coach, avoided the challenge by not giving a full effort.

"We’ve got to learn how to play harder when we’re not playing well,” coach Reggie Witherspoon said after UB’s 69-56 loss to Kent State. “In a conference like this there’s going to be some ugly nights and if we can’t get down and dirty then it’s going to be a long season."

The 2,532 in attendance at Alumni Arena witnessed sloppy play by both teams. Witherspoon charged that his squad was the worst offender, and the final statistics support his claim.

Kent State scored 26 points on 26 UB turnovers, a season-high total that included 17 in the first half. The Bulls are now averaging 19.9 turnovers per game this season, having given up possession more than 23 times on seven occasions. The Golden Flashes came in leading the MAC with a plus-3.7 turnover differential.

After closing within 46-42 midway through the second half, the Bulls went 9:44 without a field goal. UB shot 37.9 percent from the floor in the second half (11 of 29), hitting on just 16.7 percent (2 of 12) from 3-point range. They also missed seven of 13 free throws in the final 13 minutes.

“We’re playing a lot of young guys, but we could’ve lost this game and still played hard,” Witherspoon said. “The most troubling thing is the effort. And not just from the sophomores, but from the guys who are around them and have been here long enough.”

The Bulls came in atop the conference rankings in rebounding margin, having outrebounded their opponents by an average of 14.2 in four games prior. Wednesday night Kent State held a 39-33 edge on the backboards, holding UB to just eight offensive rebounds, more than six below their season average.

“They’re the best rebounding team in the league,” Kent State coach Jim Christian said. “We knew that was the key to the game. There’s no way our three frontcourt players could compete with they’re three. So we had to go five against three. And our guards got in there and rebounded as best as they could.”

Kent State guard Omni Smith had eight rebounds to go along with his game-high 20 points. Haminn Quaintance shook off a bloodied nose to contribute 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Center Yassin Idbihi led the Bulls with 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Idbihi had just two of the Bulls turnovers, but hid his usual charisma behind a scowl of discouragement during the postgame press conference.

“Parnell (Smith) and I, right now, we’re not providing the leadership that we need to win games,” Idbihi said. “I have to find a way, with my experience, to lead the team. Tonight was another night I was very disappointed with what I did.”

Coming off a 35-point, 11 3-pointer performance at Bowling Green, UB point guard Eric Moore had just seven points on 2-for-15 shooting. The sophomore balanced five turnovers against three assists and was 0 for 9 inside the 3-point arc.

“I didn’t think Eric was going to turn into Turner Battle because he had a 35-point game,” Witherspoon said. “I certainly knew he had a couple games in him like the game he played tonight because I’ve seen those in practice.”

Smith had as many turnovers (six) as points in 24 minutes off the bench. Vadim Fedotov started for the fourth time in five games but had just four points and two rebounds in 16 minutes.

“We thought we might get some punch off the bench if we did that,” Witherspoon said benching Smith, a senior. “We’re not a real deep team, we knew that coming in to the season. We’re trying to find ways to get something off the bench and we really didn’t get that tonight.”

Contact Jonah Bronstein at 282-2311, Ext. 2258.



GAME RESET

• THE SCORE: Kent State 69, UB 56

• THE SCOOP: The Bulls fall to 0-2 in MAC play with a discouraging home loss.

• THE STAT: UB committed a season-high 26 turnovers, including 17 in the first half.

• THE STAR: Kent State’s Haminn Quaintance shook off a bloodied nose to score 15 points and grab 10 rebounds.

• UP NEXT: UB hosts Miami (5-8, 1-0) at 5 p.m. Sunday.