Buffalo Bulls men's basketball

History

Men's basketball teams representing the University at Buffalo date back to at least December 1, 1905 when the Buffalo Bisons played in front of a crowd of 400 in Buffalo, losing 27–23 to Cornell University. Their first known win came in their following game against Tonawanda High School in the high school's gym. Their first known win against a fellow college basketball team came in the first game of the following season against Cornell at a roller rink.

In 1915, an official basketball program was launched with the full support of the university amid an athletic revival that saw the rebirth of the football team in the same year. Art Powell of the University of Rochester was hired as head coach for the inaugural season. The team practiced at a Turn-Verein building and played its home games at a Fraternal Order Orioles hall.

Although the university did not officially change its athletics teams' names from Bisons to Bulls until 1931, the basketball team was referred to as the Bulls in newspaper coverage as early as 1926.

Conference affiliations

• 1915–16 to 1942–43 – Independent
• 1943–44 to 1944–45 – Did not play
• 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 – East Coast Conference
• 1992–93 – Independent
• 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 four times. Their combined record is 2–4.

NCAA Division II Tournament results

The Bulls appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament six times. Their combined record is 6–7.

NCAA Division III Tournament results

The Bulls appeared in the NCAA Division III tournament once. They went 0–2.

NIT results

The Bulls have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) two times. Their record is 1–2.

CIT results

The Bulls have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) two times. Their combined record is 3–2.

CBI results

The Bulls have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) once. Their record is 0–1.

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

NBA players

Three former Bulls have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA):

• Sam Pellom: Played for the Atlanta Hawks (1979–82) & Milwaukee Bucks (1982–83)
• Jeenathan Williams: Debuted for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2023
• Curtis Jones: Debuted for the Denver Nuggets in 2025

Other notable alumni

• Turner Battle, MAC Player of the Year (2005), Bulls assistant coach, athletic director of The Park School of Buffalo
• Wes Clark, The Basketball Tournament (TBT) 2022 champion
• Modie Cox, professional basketball player and coach
• Shannon Evans, professional basketball player
• Blake Hamilton, TBT 2022 champion
• Jeremy Harris, TBT 2022 champion
• Yassin Idbihi, professional player, 3× Bundesliga champion and 2× All-Star
• C. J. Massinburg, MAC Player of the Year, TBT 2022 champion and MVP, Italian Cup champion
• Javon McCrea, MAC Player of the Year (2014), professional basketball player, ABA All-Star
• Justin Moss, MAC Player of the Year (2015), professional basketball player
• Nick Perkins, professional basketball player, 2022 TBT Champion
• Jarryn Skeete, Canadian professional basketball player
• Mitchell Watt, MAC Player of the Year (2012), champion of the FIBA Europe Cup, Italian Cup, German Cup and Balkan League

Retired numbers

Main article: List of NCAA men's basketball retired numbers

Honored jerseys

Jerseys were retired but the numbers remain available:

All-Americans

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

• Sam Pellom – 1976 (AP Honorable Mention)
• Turner Battle – 2005 (AP Honorable Mention)
• Mitchell Watt – 2012 (AP Honorable Mention)
• Javon McCrea – 2014 (AP Honorable Mention)
• Justin Moss – 2015 (AP Honorable Mention)
• C. J. Massinburg – 2019 (AP Honorable Mention)

Academic All-Americans

The following Buffalo players were named Academic All-Americans:

• Turner Battle – 2005

Mid-American Conference award recipients

[[Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year|Player of the Year]]

• Turner Battle – 2005
• Mitchell Watt – 2012
• Javon McCrea – 2014
• Justin Moss – 2015
• C. J. Massinburg – 2019

[[Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament|Tournament MVP]]

• Xavier Ford – 2015
• Willie Conner – 2016
• Wes Clark – 2018
• Jeremy Harris – 2019

Coach of the Year

• Reggie Witherspoon – 2004
• Nate Oats – 2018, 2019

Defensive Player of the Year

• Dontay Caruthers – 2017, 2019
• Davonta Jordan – 2020
• Josh Mballa – 2021

Freshman of the Year

• Javon McCrea – 2011

Sixth Man of the Year

• Mark Bortz – 2005
• Nick Perkins – 2017, 2018, 2019
• Ronaldo Segu – 2020

Academic All-MAC

• Mark Bortz – 2004, 2005
• Turner Battle – 2003, 2004, 2005
• Vadim Fedotov – 2009
• John Boyer – 2010
• Byron Mulkey – 2011
• Tony Watson II – 2012
• Will Regan – 2013, 2014
• Shannon Evans – 2015
• Nikola Rakicevic – 2017
• Dontay Caruthers – 2019
• Brock Bertram – 2020, 2021
• Tra'Von Fagan – 2021
• David Skogman – 2021

All-MAC teams

All-MAC First Team

• Turner Battle – 2005
• Rodney Pierce – 2009, 2010
• Mitchell Watt – 2012
• Javon McCrea – 2012, 2013, 2014
• Justin Moss – 2015
• C. J. Massinburg – 2018, 2019
• Nick Perkins – 2018, 2019
• Jayvon Graves – 2020
• Jeenathan Williams – 2022

All-MAC Second Team

• Turner Battle – 2004
• Calvin Cage – 2006
• Byron Mulkey – 2011
• Shannon Evans – 2015
• Blake Hamilton – 2017
• Jeremy Harris – 2018, 2019
• Jayvon Graves – 2021
• Jeenathan Williams – 2021
• Josh Mballa – 2021, 2022
• Ronaldo Segu – 2022

All-MAC Third Team

• Lamonte Bearden – 2016
• Blake Hamilton – 2016
• Wes Clark – 2018
• Curtis Jones – 2023

All-Freshman Team

• Yassin Idbihi – 2004
• Javon McCrea – 2011
• Jarryn Skeete – 2013
• Shannon Evans – 2014
• Lamonte Bearden – 2015
• C.J. Massinburg – 2016
• Ben Michaels – 2025

All-Defensive Team

• Willie Conner – 2016
• Dontay Caruthers – 2017, 2019
• Davonta Jordan – 2018, 2019
• Josh Mballa – 2021, 2022

All-Tournament team

• Turner Battle & Yassin Idbihi – 2005
• Max Boudreau – 2009
• Mitchell Watt – 2012
• Shannon Evans & Xavier Ford – 2015
• Lamonte Bearden, Willie Conner & C. J. Massinburg – 2016
• Wes Clark & Jeremy Harris – 2018
• Josh Mballa & Jeenathan Williams – 2021

References

References

1. Jonah Bronstein. (2023-03-30). "UB hires basketball coach George Halcovage from Villanova".
2. (2 December 1905). "Cornell Wins from U. of B.". [[Buffalo Courier]].
3. (16 December 1905). "Clean Victory for the U. of B.". [[Buffalo Courier Express]].
4. (1 December 1906). "Blue and White Defeats Cornell". [[Buffalo Courier Express]].
5. (10 December 1915). "Art Powell Will Give U. B. Place on Basketball Map". [[Buffalo Courier]].
6. "1915-1916 Buffalo Basketball". [[University at Buffalo]].
7. (September 13, 2012). "The history of UB football". [[University at Buffalo]].
8. (14 January 1926). "Varsity Quint Will Practice in Kodak Hall". [[Democrat and Chronicle]].
9. [https://library.buffalo.edu/ub-sports/mens-sports/basketball/1954-1955-buffalo-bulls-basketball/ 1954-1955 Buffalo Bulls Basketball] by Scott Hollander at University at Buffalo Libraries
10. [https://issuu.com/buffalobulls/docs/buffalo_1819mediaguide 2018-19 Buffalo men's basketball media guide], p. 94–95
11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190324134122/http://www.ubbulls.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/releases/20190228hxvc8l Bulls to Honor Former Standout Rasaun Young on March 8], 28 Feb 2019 at UBBull.com (archived)
12. Buffalo, University at. (January 6, 2024). "UB to Honor Former Standout Turner Battle on Feb. 17".
13. (March 11, 1976). "AP All-America". [[The Mexico Ledger]].
14. (March 22, 2005). "Hamilton Earns Honorable Mention All-America Honors". College of the Holy Cross.
15. (March 26, 2012). "Mitchell Watt Earns AP All-America Honorable Mention Honors". University at Buffalo Athletics.
16. (March 31, 2014). "Javon McCrea Named AP All-America Honorable Mention". University at Buffalo Athletics.
17. (March 30, 2015). "Justin Moss Named AP All-America Honorable Mention". University at Buffalo Athletics.
18. (April 2, 2019). "Duke freshmen Williamson, Barrett top AP All-America team". Associated Press.
19. "2014 MAC Record Book". Mid-American Conference.
20. (March 11, 2015). "Justin Moss Named MAC Player Of The Year". University at Buffalo Athletics.
21. (March 13, 2019). "Buffalo's Oats, Massinburg Earn Top MAC Honors". Mid-American Conference.
22. (March 9, 2015). "MAC Announces Men's Basketball All-MAC, All-Freshman Teams". Mid-American Conference.
23. (6 March 2017). "Hamilton, Massinburg, Caruthers Earn All-MAC Honors". [[Buffalo Bulls.
24. (March 7, 2016). "MAC ANNOUNCES MEN'S HOOPS ALL-MAC, ALL-FRESHMAN & ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAMS". [[Mid-American Conference]].
25. (8 March 2023). "2022-23 MAC Basketball Postseason Awards Released". [[Mid-American Conference]].
26. "Men's Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Winners". [[Sports Reference]].
27. (March 14, 2015). "Buffalo Bulls forward Xavier Ford named MVP of MAC Tournament 2015: Notebook (photos)". [[The Plain Dealer]].
28. (March 12, 2016). "Buffalo Bulls' Willie Connor named tournament MVP: MAC Tournament 2016 (video)". [[The Plain Dealer]].
29. "Men's All-Mid-American Conference Tournament". [[Sports Reference]].