By Budd Bailey
College basketball games are supposed to last 40 minutes on a normal night.
Thursday’s game at Alumni Arena lasted about four.
As in F-O-U-R.
Or, F-O-R-E, as in when something really bad has happened on the golf course, so watch your head.
The University at Buffalo had as bad a start as you could imagine, falling behind Bryant University by a count of 18-0 with only 4:14 gone in the game. The Bulls went on to an 87-64 loss before 1,159 who had little to cheer.
“We played a really veteran physical Bryant team who came in here confidently,” UB coach George Halcovage said. “We knew they were going to come in and set the tone with pace tonight. They made some shots early, got hot, and I don’t think we responded well.”
All true. It’s hard to believe that many teams in the America East Conference are going to beat Bryant (2-1) - a school from Smithfield, Rhode Island, which reached the NCAAs two years ago – if it plays like that. In those opening minutes, the Bulldogs scored from outside – three three-pointers – and inside – two layups – and in the middle – a 15-footer and three free throws. All five players contributed to the 18-0 run.
As one college basketball coach once said, a 10-0 deficit sounds worse than it is. You still have the rest of the game to catch up, and teams come from 10 back all the time. But 18-0 is much more serious.
“You have to have your guys get it back one possession at a time,” Halcovage said. “All you have to do is to win it by one at the end.
“We were trying to fight back the entire game. It was one of those games where our inexperience, our not understanding about setting a tone and getting off to a great start hurt us. We’ve got to understand that if we’re not making shots to start games, we need to do it on the defensive end.”
Once the Bulls (2-2) did get on the scoreboard with six minutes gone, they had a little spurt to cut the lead to 22-8. But Bryant then went on another 11-2 run to make it a 33-10 lead with 12 minutes gone in the game. It was 50-25 aft halftime, and the lead reached 34 before the Bulldogs were content to trade baskets and fouls (29 in the last 20 minutes) in filling out the night’s final scoresheet.
“As the game went on, we kept battling,” Halcovage said. “But when you put yourself in an 18-0 hole, you can’t go two, three minutes (without scoring).”
Perhaps the most striking part about the result was that no one really saw it coming. The Bulls had played Notre Dame quite well on the road on Monday. They lost by nine after leading at the half, as only a bad start in the second half prevented them from thinking about a big upset. It seemed like a sign of progress.
Then again, Thursday’s game was the latest in an unpredictable start to the season. UB earned a road win at Old Dominion in the opener, but had to come back from a stunning deficit to defeat Fredonia. The consistent part of UB’s game seems to be inconsistency – which isn’t unusual with a young team with plenty of new parts.
“I know that we have a lot of new guys playing together for the first time, and there’s going to be growth periods with this team,” Halcovage said. “I have no doubt this team will get better. However, we’ve got to learn how to mature on the non-negotiables – how you start the game. We have yet to understand doing that. That needs to happen for this team to take next steps. I think it will. It’s a matter of our guys wanting to do it.”
Individually, Ryan Sabol led UB with 17 points, and Tyson Dunn had 12, No other Bull was in double figures. Five Bryant players were in double digits, as Rafael Pinzon had 15 points to lead the way.
What happens next for Buffalo is anyone’s guess. However, Halcovage believes his team can turn this game into a learning experience.
“We’re going to learn a lot from this film, how we handle adversity” he said. “Our guys have to know that no matter what environment they’re in, when they come home they have to bring even more. We have to defend in our house, and we have yet to do that here in Alumni.”
UB’s next game will be on Tuesday at Vermont, followed by home games with Morgan State on Nov. 22 and North Carolina A&T on Nov. 25 as the team searches for that consistency. You could use a movie quote to preview those games: “Fasten your seat belts; it’s going to be a bumpy night.”
(Follow Budd on X.com via @WDX2BB)
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