The Bulls hung tight with . . .
The Bulls took a couple of one-point leads in the first half as a three from senior Wes Clark put UB ahead 17-16 with 9:19 left. The Aggies built their lead up to seven though before back-to-back threes from junior Montell McRae pulled UB back within one with 2:34 left. The Aggies took a 34-31 lead into the break.
Texas A&M built the lead up to 10 in the second half as the Aggies took a 53-43 lead with 12:50 left. Texas A&M led by nine with 9:23 remaining when the Bulls got back-to-back threes from Jeremy Harris and Dallas, Texas native CJ Massinburg, to pull within 58-55 with 8:04 remaining. Another three from Massinburg brought Buffalo within two at 60-58 with 6:54 left.
The Aggies again built a nine-point lead, but a layup from Nick Perkins and another Massinburg three had Buffalo within 69-65 with 3:43 remaining however, the Aggies scored six straight from there to go up double figures. Late free throws extended the lead to 16, which was Texas A&M's largest of the game.
"That's a really good team out there and they are so hard to score on around the rim with their size," said head coach Nate Oats. "We hung in there late, but we were relying on threes to keep us in the game and then our legs got a little tired and they ran away with it. But I thought our guys' effort was great again and that's what we need heading into conference play."
Massinburg, in his return to Texas for the first time as a collegiate athlete, led the Bulls with 20 points as he recorded a new career-high with six made three-pointers. He also led the team in rebounding with eight rebounds, while adding five assists.
Clark finished with 17 points and eight assists, while Perkins had 17 points and six boards off the bench. McRae and Harris each finished with nine as they both hit three triples in the game.
The Bulls finished 17-of-39 from behind the arc, recording their second most threes in a game in school history, and their most since 18 threes against Troy State during the 1995-96 season.
The Aggies, who improved to 11-1 on the season, had five players in double figures.
Buffalo will conclude non-conference play next Thursday night when they host NJIT at Alumni Arena.
(Courtesy of UB Athletics)