DDSCB 23: All Gas No Brakes

[CoachPrm15]

Assistant Coach Angres Thorpe


October 1, 2024

"Landon Progin is the first top 100 recruit we've signed, a Point Guard with outstanding size we were able to beat out a number of major conference teams to secure his talent. Progin is a floor general who excels at making his teammates better around him. Through the summer camps Landon seemingly was among the top players in terms of getting his teammates wide open shots. Rick Harris fills the role of a combo-guard who can play both the one and two, we are very excited about how much Rick loves to play defense. In our system he will be able to play the three position because he plays bigger than his height. Whether it is on the ball or off the ball Rick has to potential to be the best perimeter defender we have ever had. Power Forwards Justin Jordan and Jason Edney are similar type players, they both fit the build of the interior players we are looking to sign. Athletic, adapt at facing up, and the ability to play multiple positions on the basketball court. Junior College Power Forward Lloyd Brooks rounds out our recruiting class. Lloyd will provide interior strength, rebounding, and intensity while providing instant energy off the bench. Rivals rated this recruiting class as the 35th best recruiting class.

Recruits

Landon Progin PG 6-3 194 Mount Vernon, NY National Rank: 70

Rick Harris SG 6-2 196 Front Royal, VA National Rank: 121

Justin Jordan PF 6-7 226 Clarksburg, WV National Rank: 155

Jason Edney PF 6-7 221 Readfield, ME National Rank: 240

Lloyd Brooks (Juco) PF 6-6 236 Van, WV National Rank: 282

[CoachPrm15]

December 1, 2024


Senior Center Lamont Fisher

"I've patiently waited my time behind some outstanding players but now I'm getting the chance to prove myself as the number one option. Coach Tyler is known for his guard focused offense, but he's added more post up plays this season. It shows how good a coach he is, being able to adjust to the personnel he has. Every game Coach scripts the first three plays of the game, in all of our games so far at least two of those three scripted plays have been for me as the first option. Coach has always valued my rebounding and defense, but this year he really wants to unlock my offensive potential.

In our five November games, I have been the team's leading scorer four times. In an 81-67 at VCU I played the best game of my career. My stat line for the game was 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks. I went 10 for 10 from the field against VCU, bringing out post moves my teammates didn't know I had. The team is playing really well, James Finley and Irv Green have fit in seamlessly with the rest of the team. At 5-0 we've made a great start to the season, and I am very excited to see what the remainder of my Senior season has in store."

November 2024

NC-Asheville 87-66

@St. Josephs 81-70

Mass-Lowell 74-59

@VCU 81-67

Belmont 79-62

[CoachPrm15]

December 31, 2024


Junior Forward Irv Green

"Being a kid from Louisiana I never experienced snow until now, the winter weather has probably been my toughest adjustment to being at Buffalo. John Underwood the other Louisiana native on the team has helped a lot in my adjustment. He's the one motivating me the most when I do feel like leaving my dorm to head to class when it's super cold out. Us two along with James Finley and Pete Morrison have formed a bond being the players on the team from the south. At least twice a month we all meet up for southern style dinners, usually it's James or me doing the cooking. Coach Tyler has dubbed us the Four Horsemen, which is cool because I grew up a big pro wrestling fan.


On the court we've been cookin' my style of play really fits into what we do at Buffalo. The main reason I decided to come to Buffalo was I wanted to play in an up-tempo system. At McNeese State the coaches had us playing a very slow-paced game, I feel I'm at my best offensively when I am playing in transition. Here at Buffalo when we get a stop on defense, we immediately get into transition. Generally, I'm filling a lane on the wing, and frequently I've been the one finishing the break with a slam dunk. One of the really cool things at home games, a section of students each game brings scoring cards like the ones in the slam dunk contest. After my dunks they will put a card up rating my dunks.


We lost a close game against a good Maryland team; in a hostile environment we got down big early. This game showed me the character of my teammates, we didn't get down on ourselves instead we grew closer as a unit and almost won the game. In a 95-85 win at Kansas State, another quality team I had my best individual performance of the season. I scored 23 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked 3 shots, got 2 steals and dished out a career high 5 assists.


December 2024

@Maryland 73-78

Morgan State 87-68

@Kansas State 95-85

Illinois State 101-64

Kent State 97-66

Central Michigan 105-75

[CoachPrm15]

January 29, 2025


Senior Guard Matt Tibbs

"Playing at Buffalo under Coach Tyler, we've always played a challenging non-conference schedule. We have no problems playing on the road or playing against power conference teams. It's a twofold strategy, one it gives us the opportunity to play against NCAA Tournament caliber teams and two we use the schedule to sharpen ourselves for MAC Conference play. The expectation for us is to not only win the MAC but dominate during conference play. Those outside our program might view that as arrogance but it is a mindset that has been drilled into us. We come into MAC arenas, and we know we have a target on our back, we embrace that. As Coach Tyler says, "someone has to wear the black hat, it might as well be us."

Through our first four conference games it was business as usual, we were running teams off the court. Then came a road game at Ohio, we came into the game ranked and we were feeling quite good about ourselves. In hindsight we probably were feeling too good about ourselves, a 107-96 loss really set Coach Tyler off. He really let into us postgame for what he deemed a lack of effort on defense. Going back and watching the game film he wasn't wrong. We figured we could just score a lot of points and that would carry us, unfortunately Ohio didn't get that memo as the ripped our defense apart. The next few practices were tough, the coaches had us go back to basics when it came to our defense.

The nature of the way we play means we aren't going to be holding teams in the 50s but holding teams in the 70-to-75-point range is more of a realistic target based on the pace we play at. In our next game there was much more defensive intensity from us as we held Eastern Michigan to 62 points. In our final four games of the month, we won three out of four but some of our defensive issues continue to plague us. We as players know if we want to truly have a special season, we need to fix our defensive problems sooner rather than later."

January 2025

North Illinois 85-56

Ball State 97-73

@Toledo 96-77

@Akron 100-80

@Ohio 96-107 (20)

Eastern Michigan 84-62 (20)

Western Michigan 79-83 (19)

@Miami Ohio 98-79 (19)

@Eastern Michigan 87-78 20

[CoachPrm15]

February 27, 2025


Senior Center Casey McDyess

"Our pace and three-point shooting are the first things that usually come to mind when people think about our offense, this season we've added a new element to our attack and that is bully ball. This season Lamont Fisher and I have combined to average 20 points per game, 16 rebounds per game, and 4 blocks per game. My previous three years I would spell Lamont when he was subbed out, this season Coach Tyler has played us a fair amount together and it's unleashed another element to our offense. Coach Tyler has nicknamed us The Road Warriors because of how we physically can take care of the post area. It's been really fun to earn more minutes and expand my overall game. We either one of us are in a groove, Coach will make it the focus of the guards to feed the post.

I feel this newfound ability to score inside will make us even more dangerous come tournament time. We can go small, or we can go big with Irv playing the small forward spot. Coach Tyler is a master tinkerer in his ability to roll out difference lineups that are effective. Winning seven out of our eight games in February we've hit our groove at the ideal time. For me Senior Night vs Miami Ohio was a highlight of my career. The first three plays of the game Coach called a High-Lo with Lamont and me. Three post buckets and we were on our way, in my final home game I scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. We really have built something special this season and we are expecting to make a deep NCAA Tournament run."

February 2025

@Western Michigan 78-70 (20)

Akron 96-67 (19)

Ohio 102-75 (19)

Bowling Green 67-74 (16)

@Ball State 92-73 (16)

@Kent State 86-74 (17)

Miami Ohio 96-58 (17)

@Central Michigan 88-72 (16)

[CoachPrm15]

March 11, 2025

Head Coach Ricky Tyler

"Our regular season ended with a 72-79 loss at Northern Illinois, while I was not happy with the loss overall, I'm pleased with the manner in which the team has gelled this season. My first two seasons we had a clear number one and number two scoring option, this season we don't have that number one option. With four players averaging double figures this season we've taken more of a committee type approach. During the course of games, we tend to establish a hot hand and feed that player. In some instances, not having the lead option have made us more difficult to guard on offense because teams don't know who to focus on. Heading into the conference tournament my biggest thing has been shutting out the outside chatter. Rumors are running rampant about teams being interested in me as their head coach next season. I've told the team and media I will not discuss any coaching chatter until our NCAA Tournament run is over."

MAC 2024-2025 Conference Standings

Buffalo 16-4 24-5

Toledo 14-6 21-8

Ohio 14-6 20-9

Western Michigan 13-7 16-14

Bowling Green 12-8 15-14

Northern Illinois 11-9 13-16

Akron 11-9 13-16

Kent State 11-9 16-13

Central Michigan 6-14 8-21

Ball State 5-15 10-19

Miami Ohio 5-15 6-23

Eastern Michigan 2-18 5-24

[CoachPrm15]

Senior Guard Matt Tibbs


March 13, 2025

MAC Tournament

Buffalo Bulls (1) (17) vs. Kent State Golden Flashes (9)

"Coach Tyler has set the bar high for us in terms of his expectations. He does so because he sets expectations so high for himself as a coach. He doesn't ask us to do anything he wouldn't do as a player, so we are good with having the bar set so high. Those expectations are even higher for his point guards, it took me a while to adjust because even when I thought I was playing well Coach would focus on an area I needed to improve. Initially when I arrived at Buffalo, I felt he didn't really like me, it took midway through last season for me to truly understand the mindset of Coach Tyler. Clint Croshere pulled me aside after a practice because he could sense my frustration. He told me, Coach Tyler loves me as a player and that is why he is always trying to drive you to a higher level than I thought possible. As Clint said if Coach wasn't driving you than that is the time I should worry. After that we began to develop a strong bond, frequently I'll spend time analyzing games with Coach trying to pick his brain for all of the knowledge he has.

Outside of the program people wondered who could replace Clint, but inside the program everyone had total faith that I would be able to carry on the stellar point guard play under Coach Tyler. I led the conference in assists this season at 6.6 per game, and I've really thrived being the quarterback of this offense. In our opening game of the MAC Tournament against Kent State, Coach showed the ultimate faith in me by letting me call the entire offense. With that belief I wasn't going to let him down. I didn't score much but I handed out 11 assists, getting our scorers the ball in areas where they would be most successful. We cruised to an 86-71 victory as we were never challenged during the game. The biggest highlight for me was the fact I have 0 turnovers which I made it a point after the game to let Coach know. He told me, you were marvelous today. I've definitely come full circle in my relationship with Coach Tyler."

[CoachPrm15]

Sophomore Guard James Finley


March 14, 2025

MAC Tournament

Buffalo Bulls (1) (17) vs. Western Michigan Broncos (4)

"We wanted Western Michigan, that was our thought process after our quarterfinal win over Kent State. Both games against them during the regular season have been close, the fact they beat us on our home court really ticked us off. To say we were locked in during practice would be quite the understatement. I feel we really had our best practice of the season. We not only wanted to beat Western Michigan, but we wanted to blow them out. Our locker room is full of guys with chips on their shoulder, so it doesn't take much to motivate us. For me my chip has been the fact people have doubted me because of my size. Even at Clemson the coaches felt I was on the shorter side to play shooting guard, so I played more at the point during my one season at Clemson. I did what was best for the team, but I know my natural position is a shooting guard. My instincts are to score first and Coach Tyler wants me to do just that. The first time I met Coach Tyler, he told me my height didn't worry him. He didn't view me as undersized he viewed me as a bucket getter.

When we came out on to the court we had laser like focus, we were hungry, and we were going to show Western Michigan just how hungry we were. We started the game on a 20-2 run, Matt and I kept looking over to Coach who just kept saying, All Gas, No Brakes. Western Michigan never had a chance as we got exactly what we wanted which was a dominating win. The 102-65 win tied for our largest margin of victory all season. I led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points, we had five other players score in double figures."

[CoachPrm15]

Head Coach Ricky Tyler

March 15, 2025

MAC Tournament

Buffalo Bulls (1) (17) vs. Ohio Bobcats (3)

"Our expectation was to face Ohio in the final, they are a really good basketball team. Our worst performance of the season was a 96-107 lost at Ohio, probably the worst defensive performance we've had at Buffalo during my time here. In saying that I can't take anything away from Ohio's performance because their offensive execution was flawless. I have a lot of respect for the Ohio players and coaching staff. J.D. Cooper is going to be the focal point of our gameplan, the all-MAC First Team guard averages 14.7 points per game, 5.4 assists per game, and 2.3 steals per game. Cooper is a problem both on the offensive and defensive ends of the court.

Cooper being the strong leader he is will not be phased by our pressure, he's the type of guard who has been in the pressure cooker and thrives on pressure. Ohio made their first 5 shots of the game and Cooper was responsible for all 5 baskets scoring twice and dishing out 3 assists. We absorbed their early punch and then countered back with some punches of our own going on a lightning quick 9-0 run. We tried four different guys on Cooper, Matt Tibbs, John Underwood, James Finley, and Bryan Sanders but none of them had much success guarding Cooper. He was playing lights out completely in his groove. Ohio held a 45-41 halftime lead with Cooper leading their charge with 11 points and 7 assists.

Talking to the coaching staff at halftime our sole focus was finding a way to neutralize Cooper, we decided to switch from our 1-2-2 press to a 2-2-1 press. In the halfcourt we decided to go to a Box and 1 defense with Bryan Sanders being the primary defender on Cooper. The other four players in the zone were instructed to help out on Cooper as much as possible. We knew that would possibly free up Ohio's other players, but we were willing to take that risk because we wanted anyone but Cooper to beat us. On offense we came out running a lot more screening action, whoever Cooper was guarding we'd get him involved in pick and roll defense. This was done to try and wear him down defensively by making him have to expend more energy on the defensive end.

The change in gameplan worked early, in the first five minutes of the second half we outscored Ohio 14-5 to take a five-point lead. Unfortunately for us the thing we feared as a coaching staff started to happen, Ohio went on a spree from three making five consecutive threes. That took us out of the Box and 1 as we went to a more conventional 3-2 zone. The second half was a heavyweight title boxing match with both teams giving and taking shots. James hit a corner three to put us up 85-84 with 4 minutes left in the game. However, things turned as Matt and Bryan picking up their 5th fouls, blood was in the water and Cooper like a great white shark went in for the knockout. His floater put Ohio up 90-87 with 1:30 left in the game. We turned the ball over on our next possession. Defensively we decided we were going to double team Cooper, somehow the ball found its way back to Cooper. With the shot clock running he launched a step back three that hit nothing but net. That was the knockout blow, we couldn't recover eventually falling 95-89."

[CoachPrm15]

Assistant Coach Jamie Quarles


March 16, 2025

NCAA Tournament Selection Show

"As expected the team was a bit down heading into Selection Sunday, winning the MAC Conference Tournament was one of the team goals we set during the preseason. The mood in the facility for the Selection Show wasn't as joyful as it had been the previous two seasons. As a coaching staff we didn't dwell much on the loss because a brand-new season is going to start during the NCAA Tournament. Short term memory will be our mindset heading into the NCAA Tournament, we don't want to lose twice to Ohio. That means we don't want the Ohio loss to affect our mindsets during our First Round Tournament game. We are headed to Seattle for our opening game as the 6 seed in the East Region. Our opponent will be 11th seeded St. Mary's. I actually was able to watch St. Mary's play in the WCC Championship game. They will pose a formidable challenge to us. A very experienced team who executes very well in the half court and can stretch the court shooting threes."