Cincy Sporting News » Buffalo Bulls

Buffalo 62, Miami (OH) 73

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:03:54 +0000

Associated Press

Julian Mavunga 17 Pts, 3 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk in victory over Buffalo

OXFORD, Ohio — Julian Mavunga and Kenny Hayes each scored 17 points to lead Miami (Ohio) to a 73-62 victory over Buffalo on Thursday night.

The RedHawks (13-17, 9-7 Mid-American Conference) had lost four of five but shot 50 percent from the field (26 of 52) and blocked nine shots to send Buffalo (17-11, 9-7) to just its second loss in eight games.

Miami opened the second half on a 12-6 run to take a 45-35 lead on Kramer Soderberg’s 3-pointer with 14:43 to play. Mavunga scored the first five points of the run.

Mitchell Watt and Rodney Pierce combined for five straight points to cut the deficit to 45-40, but the RedHawks then went on an 11-0 run to take a 56-40 lead on Hayes’ layup with 8:48 remaining.

Antonio Ballard had 13 points and nine rebounds for Miami.

Watt finished with 17 points and Pierce added 16 for Buffalo. Calvin Betts had 12 rebounds for the Bulls.

Ohio 69, Buffalo 72

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:30:47 +0000

Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Buffalo men’s basketball team overcame a 10-point deficit with less than seven minutes remaining to nip visiting Ohio 72-69 Saturday evening at Alumni Arena.

Ohio was powered by double-double efforts from D.J. Cooper (12 points, 11 assists) and Kenneth van Kempen (16 points, 10 rebounds). Cooper also added eight rebounds. Buffalo improved to 17-10 overall and 9-6 in the Mid-American Conference, while Ohio dropped to 16-14 and 6-9 in the league. It was also the ninth consecutive win on Senior Day for the Bulls.

“This was not for lack of effort tonight,” Head Coach John Groce said. “We competed and for 30 minutes of this game I thought you could consider us the better team on the floor. We just did not execute at the beginning and end of the ballgame.”

The Bulls were led by Rodney Pierce’s 26 points (11-17 FG) and five steals, while John Boyer added 16 points, 13 in the second half, and seven assists. Jawaan Alston had a team-high six rebounds.

“Rodney Pierce was the best player on the floor tonight,” Groce said. “He’s been a great player these last couple of years and we’re finally glad to see him go because he played great for them tonight and made big shots down the stretch.”

The Bobcats outrebounded Buffalo 35-28, but their 19 turnovers turned into 15 Buffalo steals.

Trailing 15-12, Ohio went on an 11-2 run, seven from Cooper, to go up 23-17 with 10:06 in the half. They would maintain the lead for the remainder of the stanza and took an 11-point lead on a three-pointer by Tommy Freeman with 4:32 remaining. Buffalo managed to score the final five points before the break to cut the lead to 44-38.

KVK and Armon Bassett each had 10 points to lead the Green & White at intermission. The team as a whole shot 55 percent and drilled five three-pointers while going a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe. Pierce led Buffalo with 15 points as the Bulls shot 48.6 percent for the half.

The second half went back-and-forth as Buffalo quickly cut the deficit to one only to see Ohio respond and hold a seven-point advantage with 14:59 to go. Once again, Buffalo trimmed the lead to one wth 11:08 to go before an 8-0 Bobcat run, five from DeVaughn Washington, pushed the lead to nine, 59-50, with 8:59 remaining.

The lead hit 10 for Ohio with 7:46 on the clock and Buffalo was forced to take a timeout. An 14-4 Bull run was capped by a Pierce three-pointer with 2:23 left that tied the score at 67.

With 40 seconds to go, Bassett hit a cold-blooded jumper from the free-throw line for a two-point lead for Ohio. However, Pierce hit a trifecta on the other end out of a timeout to answer and give Buffalo their first lead of the second half, 70-69 with 28 seconds on the clock.

The Bobcats return home this week for their final regular season game. The contest will be against Bowling Green on Thursday, March 4 at 7 p.m. inside the Convo. Prior to tip-off, the team will recognize their seniors in a small ceremony.

MAC Men’s Basketball Scores: Feb. 11th

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:04:08 +0000

Central Michigan 76, Ohio 89
Associated Press
ATHENS, Ohio — Armon Bassett scored 25 points and DeVaughn Washington added 24 in Ohio’s 89-76 win over Central Michigan on Thursday night. (Full Story)

Feb 12 Upcoming Games:

No Games Schedule Today

MAC Men’s Basketball Scores: Feb. 10th

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:03:30 +0000

Toledo 47, Miami (OH) 55
Associated Press
OXFORD, Ohio — Kenny Hayes scored 14 points and Anthony Ballard 13 to lead Miami (Ohio), which came on strong in the second half for a 55-47 victory over Toledo on Wednesday night. (Full Story)

Northern Illinois 69, Bowling Green 73
Associated Press
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Scott Thomas scored 26 points and Bowling Green rallied to defeat Northern Illinois 73-69 on Wednesday night.

Eastern Michigan 67, Buffalo 84
Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rodney Pierce scored 27 points and Buffalo defeated Eastern Michigan 84-67 on Wednesday night.

Ball State 42, Kent State 76
Associated Press
KENT, Ohio — Chris Singletary and Anthony Simpson scored 11 points each to lead Kent State to a 76-42 victory over Ball State on Wednesday night.

Upcoming Games:

Central Michigan at Ohio
7:00 PM ET, February 11, 2010
Convocation Center, Athens, OH

Bearcats targets unlicensed gear

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:43:44 +0000

Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — The University of Cincinnati is going on offense against sellers of unlicensed Bearcats team gear, a growing problem as the unbeaten football team prepares for the Sugar Bowl.

The University of Cincinnati is cracking down on unauthorized sellers of UC themed gear, pushing out cease-and-desist letters and gearing up to pick the fight in federal court.

Sales of licensed merchandise have more than doubled this football season, school officials say. But the team’s success also has boosted sales of unlicensed T-shirts, jerseys and other merchandise that deprive the university of a share of profits and erode its trademark, they say.

Marty Ludwig, UC director of trademarks and licensing, has been working with lawyers for Collegiate Licensing Co. to find and warn offenders against unauthorized sales.

“It hurts the university by confusing our fans and not valuing our brand properly,” Ludwig said.

Among products targeted are “Mardy Gras” T-shirts referring to wide receiver Mardy Gilyard, and T-shirts in white, red and black made by bars. The Bearcats play Florida in the Sugar Bowl on Friday night.

It’s a familiar problem for Ohio State, which will play Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Friday and is a regular in BCS bowl games.

The Buckeyes have topped a record $9 million in athletics-related merchandise sales twice in the past few years, which puts Ohio State among the elite in that category along with the likes of the University of Texas.

Rick Van Brimmer, who oversees Ohio State’s licensing department, said success comes with the problem of people trying to make a buck off your name.

“There’s a variety of ways to pursue infringement of your trademark: cease-and-desist letters, court orders, criminal action (complaints). We utilize all of these depending on our situation,” he said. “As Cincinnati would be finding out this year with the unprecedented success of its football team, the more popular you are, the more chance there is for infringement.”

At last season’s Orange Bowl in Miami, where Cincinnati played in its first BCS game, about a dozen people were arrested for selling unlicensed items.

UC contends that its trademark rights extend to any product that connects to the university, even if it doesn’t carry the C-paw logo or university name.

“The main issue at heart is that a trademark symbolizes the quality of the product,” said Brian Downey, a lawyer with Frost Brown Todd who specializes in trademark and copyright law.

“It comes from one source, the owner of the trademark, so people know what they’re getting.”

Ludwig said UC sales totals are running far ahead of traditional levels.

Boosters and students have stopped selling unlicensed merchandise after receiving warning letters, Ludwig said, but some bar owners and national sales operations have persisted.

If illicit sales continue, UC plans to go to court and seek monetary damages.

Counterfeiters quickly spot teams with rising sales; They’ll buy T-shirts at $2 each, slap on a design and sell them for $20.

“It’s a quick-dollar opportunity, and you have a captive market at a game,” Downey said.

Quinn juggling UC, Buffalo jobs

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:12:47 +0000

Associated Press

AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) — It’s first things first for Jeff Quinn after being formally introduced as the University at Buffalo‘s new head coach on Dec, 22nd.

University of Cincinnati offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Jeff Quinn speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009 in Cincinnati. Quinn will serve as Cincinnati's interim head football coach for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2010.

As much as he dressed for the part, wearing a UB lapel pin and a blue and white Bulls hat, and discussed how exciting the opportunity was to become a first-time head coach, Quinn’s mind wasn’t far from some unfinished business back home in Cincinnati.

After all, as interim head coach of the No. 4 Bearcats (12-0), he’s got a Sugar Bowl game against Tim Tebow and No. 5 Florida (12-1) to prepare for on Jan. 1.

“I’m just trying to figure out a way to score a touchdown and stop Tebow,” Quinn said, shortly after completing his first press conference.

Joking that he now has four job titles, including Cincinnati‘s offensive coordinator and line coach, Quinn’s overseeing the Bearcats after Brian Kelly left the program to take over at Notre Dame two weeks ago.

“Yeah, it’s been quite challenging,” he said. “I’ve had very little sleep but a lot of support.”

Looks as if Quinn and the Bearcats will now have a few more supporters in Buffalo.

“Absolutely, go ‘Cats,” Bulls athletic director Warde Manuel said.

Manuel then couldn’t resist the opportunity to sell Buffalo fans on the person he chose to replace Turner Gill, who left Buffalo to take over at Kansas earlier this month.

“Tune in to the Sugar Bowl,” Manuel said. “If you want to see what this offense will be like in the 2010 UB Bulls season, please watch on Jan. 1.”

Manuel was referring to the Bearcats up-tempo, spread offense which Quinn played a key role in designing as Kelly’s top assistant. In winning the Big East championship, Cincinnati ranked sixth in the nation in yards passing (320.3), total yards (464.3) and scoring (39.8 points).

The offense is an extension of the one Quinn and Kelly first introduced at Division II Grand Valley State earlier this decade and ran at Central Michigan, Buffalo’s Mid-American Conference rival.

Quinn, who accepted the job on Saturday, will formally take over the Bulls on a full-time basis on Jan. 3. In taking the Buffalo job, Quinn noted that he turned down Kelly’s offer to take over as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator.

“When Warde came in and called me to sit down and talk and map out the next step at the University at Buffalo, it really hit me at that point when I said, ‘This is my time,’” said the 47-year-old Quinn, who first broke into coaching as a graduate assistant at DePauw in 1984. “And things are in place, here. We’ve already seen that.”

Quinn inherits a Bulls program that was transformed in four seasons under Gill. It was a stretch in which Buffalo went 20-30, won the 2008 MAC championship and made its first bowl appearance, a 38-20 loss to Connecticut in the International Bowl. That’s a significant turnaround for a team that, prior to Gill’s arrival, went 10-69 since joining the MAC.

For Quinn, the Bulls’ transformation is close to the one he experienced at Cincinnati. In going 34-6 over the past three seasons, the Bearcats won back-to-back Big East titles and two straight Bowl Championship Series berths. The Bearcats set a school record last season for victories with an 11-3 record, then topped that with a 12-0 mark this year.

“You have to have that faith and belief without evidence,” Quinn said, referring to what it took to inspire the Bearcats’ turnaround. “And you found that here with coach Gill’s staff and winning the MAC championship. Because once you break through, nothing less is going to be acceptable.”

Quinn said he’ll take over offensive play-calling duties in Buffalo, though he intends to wait until after the Sugar Bowl to start putting together his staff.

Bulls offensive lineman Peter Bittner had a good first impression after he and several teammates met with Quinn earlier in the day. As difficult as it was to lose Gill, Bittner liked what he heard from his new coach.

“I’m not going to try to compare them, though, because he’s his own different guy,” Bittner said. “Coach Gill was a great coach. I’m definitely going to miss him. But I’m real excited to have Coach Quinn with us.”

And Bittner noted he’ll certainly tune in to watch the Sugar Bowl.

“Yeah, I’ll be taking a couple of notes,” Bittner said. “I can’t wait to run that offense.”