Coach Nate Oats was 37-30 his first two seasons after taking over for Bobby Hurley. He has kept the solid recruiting going and this Bulls team is for real. Kentucky played really well in the SEC Tournament and held off a pesky Davidson Wildcats team that wouldn't go away the other day. A Davidson three off a loose ball scramble with 3-tenths of a second left gave some people a miracle cover of the 5 to 5.5 point line that was around during the week. Most that had Kentucky laid 4 to 4.5 point and covered. Buffalo didn't risk the refs getting involved in a close game down the stretch in their win over Arizona.
The Bulls shot lights out in the second half and U of A had no answer. Buffalo will have to play that way again to knock off Calipari's squad. Make No Mistake, they are good enough. The Bulls have 4 solid scoring options with Massinburg, Perkins, Harris & Clark. Wes Clark is the point guard and the only senior of this crew. He should be under control and help run the show. If Buffalo gets out to a decent start they could win this game straight up. The city of Boise really got behind the Bulls the other night and you can bet the Gonzaga fan base will be pulling for the Bulls to take out Kentucky.
I'll take the 6 points but expect Buffalo to have a shot to win the game. The Bulls perimeter defense needs to stay on Kevin Knox and not let him get open looks. If they can slow him down good things will happen!