The record crowd saw BG rally to hand Buffalo its second conference loss as the Bulls dropped to 19-3 overall and 7-2 in Mid-American Conference play. The Falcons, now 15-6 on the year, now own the best MAC mark at 7-1.
Bowling Green guard Dylan Frye hit 10-of-16 overall and 3-of-7 outside the arc on the way to a team-high 25 points. Justin Turner tallied 22 points, while Demajeo Wiggins notched a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulls dominated the opening 20 minutes offensively, shooting 53.1%, hitting seven three pointers. UB took its first double digit lead nine minutes into the game as a three pointer from senior Dontay Caruthers opened up a 24-14 lead.
A three from sophomore Jayvon Graves gave UB its largest lead of the first half at 40-28, but the Bulls were never able to extend the advantage. The Bulls would lead by 12 two more times, but BG had an answer each time, pulling within eight before the break.
Bowling Green opened the second half on a 7-0 run to pull within one. After the Bulls went back ahead by five, another 7-0 run for the Falcons gave them their first lead of the night at 59-57 with 13:28 left.
Another three pointer from Caruthers tied the game back up at 63-63, but BG answered back with a three from Dylan Frye and they never trailed again. UB was within one with 8:14 left when the Falcons went on a 12-2 run, taking its largest lead of the night at 84-73 with 5:23 left.
UB was able to answer with an 8-0 run as the Bulls pulled back within three on a three-pointer from senior CJ Massinburg with 2:44 left, but Buffalo never got any closer than two. Massinburg had a chance to tie the game up with 12 seconds left, but his three-point opportunity hit the back iron.
"We weren't good enough defensively tonight and we turned the ball over too many times to beat a really good team on the road," said head coach Nate Oats. "We need to regroup and get back to playing our style of basketball."
Caruthers finished the night with a career high 28 points, his second straight 20-point performance. Caruthers was 8-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-3 from behind the arc. The senior was also 9-of-11 from the free throw line, while adding seven rebounds.
Massinburg added 26 points, scoring 19 of those in the second half. He was 10-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three point range.
Senior Nick Perkins added 10 points and six rebounds. Fellow senior Montell McRae led the Bulls in rebounding with nine, all coming in the first half. He added eight points, including draining a pair of early threes.
Buffalo had success on the glass against Bowling Green, who entered the game as the nation's leading rebounding team. UB had a 42-30 advantage on the board, including 12 offensive rebounds.
The Bulls turned it over a season high 18 times in the game, which the Falcons were able to turn into 27 points.
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