The West Virginia Mountaineers are perhaps on the highest upset-alert of any favorite in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Their opponent, the Buffalo Bulls, are not too far of from WVU in terms of various rankings.
Bob Huggins will lead his team into battle against Bobby Hurley and the Bulls on Friday afternoon in the most evenly matched No. 5 seed vs. No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Although WVU played in the Big 12, which was the conference with the top RPI, Buffalo is ranked 29th in RPI while West Virginia is 24th.
The Mountaineers' losses in the Big 12 were ugly, which included three to Baylor by a combined 36 points, two to Iowa State by a combined 22 points, a 27-point loss to Texas and a 19-point loss to Oklahoma. However, they notched wins over Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Connecticut and NC State.
With the help of senior guard Juwan Staten (14.5 ppg, 4.6 apg, 2.6 rpg and 1.1 spg), West Virginia should still provide a challenge to the underdog Bulls.
But Buffalo (23-9) and Hurley faced two of the tournament's No. 1 seeds earlier in the year. They fell to both Kentucky and Wisconsin in the first half of the season, but at least gained valuable experience in facing opponents that significantly outmatched them. The Bulls are on an eight-game win streak including two over Akron and Central Michigan that brought them the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship. They also captured the regular season title with a 12-6 conference record.
The high-powered Buffalo offense is led by junior forward Justin Moss (17.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg and 1.0 spg) and sophomore guard Shannon Evans (15.4 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.2 rpg and 1.7 spg), which should give West Virginia a run for their money.
Here are some key stats to know before tip-off at 2:10 p.m. In Columbus, OH.
West Virginia | Buffalo |
RPI - .6021 (24th overall) | RPI - .5926 (29th overall) |
SOS - 39 | SOS - 67 |
Points Per Game - 73.9 (36th overall) | Points Per Game - 75.0 (28th overall) |
FG% - .412 (282nd overall) | FG% - .435 (178th overall) |
Points Allowed Per Game - 66.8 (175th overall) | Points Allowed Per Game - 68.1 (231st overall) |
Turnovers Per Game - 13.1 (227th overall) | Turnovers Per Game - 11.3 (60th overall) |
Season Rank - 24 | Season Rank - 28 |
Check out the live stream for the UB vs. WVU game here as well as the live radio broadcast here. The game will be televised on TNT.
