Not a pretty ending for Rockets

BUFFALO - Gene Cross signaled timeout to an official and immediately stormed onto the court to confront Jake Barnett.

The University of Toledo freshman guard's lackadaisical defense had just allowed Buffalo senior guard Sean Smiley to hit a 3-pointer off the dribble to give the Bulls a 29-18 lead with 3:59 left in the first half.

As Cross screamed in Barnett's face, Smiley and the other Bulls casually jogged to the other end of the floor and sat calmly on their bench, well on their way to a 72-54 rout of the Rockets in the opening round of the Mid-American Conference tournament Sunday at Alumni Arena.

Smiley scored eight of his 12 points in that decisive first half, which saw Buffalo (18-11) open with a 7-0 run and close with a 6-0 run to lead 35-22 at the break.

"Buffalo is a veteran team with a bunch of seniors, and they came in [with the mentality] that 'I don't want this to be my last game,' " said junior forward Justin Anyijong, who led UT (4-28) with 14 points. "They smacked us around a little bit in that first half. They came out real strong."

Two quick buckets from freshman guard Malcolm Griffin (12 points) and freshman forward

Jordan Dressler (seven points) to open the second half cut UT's deficit down to 35-26 with 18:55 to play. But that's as close as the Rockets would come the rest of the way.

By the midway point of the half, the Bulls had broken open the contest with a 14-2 surge that gave them a 62-39 advantage with 5:52 remaining - their largest lead of the game.

"They're a veteran group, and they played with a lot more poise than we did," said Barnett, who posted 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. "They threw a punch in the first half, and in the second half we started fighting a little bit and started making a comeback, and then they kind of stopped all that. Give them credit. They came out and played today, and we didn't."

Senior forward Max Boudreau scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half - many of which from the same exact spot on the floor 15 feet from the basket at the top of the key - to lead Buffalo.

Senior guard Calvin Betts added 13 points, while junior forward Jawaan Alston grabbed 12 rebounds for the Bulls, who barely escaped with a 65-59 win over UT in their first meeting this season at Savage Arena.

"They more than had our attention," Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon said of the Rockets. "You can't assume [anything], because they have some weapons. We didn't need to know their record and didn't want to know their record, because I know that they've played people really tough, including us."

Fifth-seeded Buffalo advances to the MAC tournament quarterfinals, where it will face No. 4 Miami at 9 p.m. Thursday. UT's season, on the other hand, comes to a close with the most losses in school history.

"This is just something that's going to come with time," Barnett said. "Unfortunately, you can't work on experience. If you could, I'd work on it every day. That's just how it is. We just have to work on getting better."

NOTES: UT assistant coach Bob Sundvold was not present at yesterday's game because he was on a recruiting trip. … Buffalo outrebounded UT 39-26 and won the turnover battle by forcing the Rockets into 12 miscues while committing just eight. … Cross said he will sit down with suspended junior forward Mouhamed Lo in the coming days to make a decision on his future. Lo has been suspended since Jan. 26 for a variety of issues, one of which being his altercation with Barnett in a pregame shootaround practice.

Contact Zach Silka at:

zsilka@theblade.com

or 419-724-6084.

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Buffalo's Max Boudreau, left, battles UT's Jordan Dressler, center, and Jake Barnett for a rebound. JOHN HICKEY ZAPOTOSKY, DAVE / BN Enlarge

Gene Cross signaled timeout to an official and immediately stormed onto the court to confront Jake Barnett. The University of Toledo freshman guard's lackadaisical defense had just allowed Buffalo senior guard Sean Smiley to hit a 3-pointer off the dribble to give the Bulls a 29-18 lead with 3:59 left in the first half. As Cross screamed in Barnett's face, Smiley and the other Bulls casually jogged to the other end of the floor and sat calmly on their bench, well on their way to a 72-54 rout of the Rockets in the opening round of the Mid-American Conference tournament Sunday at Alumni Arena.