THE BASICS

Score: Buffalo 93, Ohio 66

Location: Alumni Arena - Buffalo, N.Y.

The Short Story: Senior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) totaled a game-high 25 points and blocked a game-high three shots, but the Ohio men's basketball team (9-19, 4-13 MAC) was saddled with a 93-66 loss to Mid-American Conference East Division rival Buffalo (20-9, 11-6 MAC) on Tuesday (March 3) at Alumni Arena.

OHIO STARTERS: #3 Javarez Willis, #5 Maurice Ndour, #14 Ryan Taylor, #22 Stevie Taylor, #33 Antonio Campbell

BUFFALO STARTERS: #1 Lamonte Bearden, #10 Jarryn Skeete, #11 Shannon Evans, #23 Justin Moss, #35 Xavier Ford

HOW IT HAPPENED

- The Bulls shot 49.3 percent (36-of-73) from the field and outscored the Bobcats in points in the paint (46-22), points off turnovers (24-4) and bench points (31-17). Buffalo outrebounded Ohio, 42-29, and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds.

- Ndour went 10-of-16 from the field -- including 3-for-4 from three-point range. He also grabbed six rebounds to match freshman guard Ryan Taylor (Gary, Ind.) for the team lead in addition to dishing out an assist and collecting a steal.

- Redshirt senior guard Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) tallied 15 points on 4-of-10 shooting -- including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. He went a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Willis handed out five assists, grabbed four rebounds and tallied a steal.

- Redshirt junior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) compiled eight points, two rebounds and an assist.

- Senior guard Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) distributed a team-high seven assists to match his season high.

- Junior forward Justin Moss led Buffalo with 22 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. He matched junior guard Jarryn Skeete with a game-high three steals. Moss shot 9-of-15 from the field.

- Junior guard/forward Rodell Wigginton totaled 20 points for the Bulls -- 11 of which came in the second half. He also totaled six rebounds, two assists and a steal.

- Sophomore guard Shannon Evans finished with 16 points off of 5-of-10 shooting -- including 3-of-5 from three-point range -- to go along with a game-high 11 assists. He also posted two steals and a rebound.

- Skeete added nine points, four rebounds and an assist in addition to his three steals.

- Freshman guard Lamonte Bearden totaled eight points, eight assists and a rebound for Buffalo.

- Senior forwards Will Regan and Xavier Ford each tallied seven points and four rebounds for the Bulls.

- The Bobcats used three treys by Ryan Taylor, Ndour and Setty to build a 15-13 lead with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half.

- The Bulls countered with a 9-0 run to turn the two-point deficit into a seven-point lead at 22-15 with just over nine minutes left, thanks in large part to four points by Wigginton.

- Ohio put together a 5-3 spurt to shave Buffalo's advantage down to five at 25-20 with seven minutes to go in the half, taking advantage of a trey and two free throws from Willis.

- Buffalo closed the half out with a 16-9 run, utilizing two threes by Evans, a trey and a layup by Wigginton and five points from Moss to take a 41-29 lead into the break.

- The Bobcats brought their deficit down to nine at 41-32 when Willis sunk a three for the first points of the second half.

- Unfortunately for Ohio, Buffalo outscored the Bobcats by a 52-37 count in the second half and led by as many as 29 after shooting 51.3 percent (20-of-39) in the final 20 minutes of play.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

- Ndour achieved double-digit points for a team-high 24th time in 2014-15 and 50th time in his career. He tallied at least 20 points for the sixth time this season and 15th time in his career. Ndour led the Bobcats in scoring the ninth time this year. He recorded at least three blocks in a game for the 10th time this season. Ndour's season block total now stands at 59, which ranks eighth in school history. His career block total now stands at 114, which ranks seventh in program history.

- Willis reached double figures in scoring for the 18th time this season and 30th time in his career.

- Stevie Taylor led Ohio in assists for the 11th time this season.

QUOTABLE

First-Year Head Coach Saul Phillips

- "We got clobbered in every way imaginable. We got drilled in the paint, beat on the offensive glass. They shot the ball extremely well from the perimeter. Their guards were extremely, extremely effective at getting two feet into the paint. They played like a team that's playing for a championship. We played like a team that's sitting at the bottom of the MAC East."

UP NEXT

Ohio concludes the 2014-15 regular season by hosting MAC East Division archrival Miami in a `Battle of the Bricks' matchup on Friday (March 6). The contest is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. ET. The Bobcats will honor the careers of their three seniors -- Ndour, Willis and guard Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) -- prior to the contest.

#SaulBall