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After making five straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2008-2012, the West Virginia Mountaineers are dancing again after a two-year hiatus. Their second-round opponent, the Buffalo Bulls, are making their first ever appearance on the bracket.
After being bounced out in the Quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament by Baylor, West Virginia earned an at-large bid on Selection Sunday after finishing fourth in the regular season conference standings. Buffalo finished tied with Kent State atop the Mid-American East regular season standings. The Bulls earned an automatic bid into the field of 68 after winning the Mid-American Tournament title with an 89-84 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday.
What To Watch For
After losing three games in a row in early February, Buffalo has rattled off eight straight wins and are one of the hottest picks to pull off an upset in the second round. The Mountaineers played one of the toughest schedules in the country as part of the Big 12.
West Virginia is an incredibly pesky defensive team. Their 10.9 steals per game lead the entire country, and their goal is to pressure the opposition into making uncharacteristic mistakes due to relentless on-ball pressure. Buffalo is a high-scoring team, led by Justin Moss and Shannon Evans. Moss, averaging 17.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, is a terror in the post and a nearly-impossible player to guard with just a single player. Keep an eye on how West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins decides to match up with Moss.
Prediction
This is one of the tougher Thursday/Friday games to predict. West Virginia is battle-tested and has 10 wins over the RPI Top 100, while Buffalo has only played two games, losing both, to teams in the RPI Top 100. Buffalo is playing their best basketball of the season and are led by two star players. The NCAA Tournament is where legends are born, and the duo of Moss and Evans will make names for themselves in the coming week. The Buffalo Bulls will pull off the upset.
Buffalo 79 West Virginia 78
Seth Lassen is a writer for RantSports. “Like” him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @Seth_Lassen.
