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In March of 2009, the University at Buffalo men's basketball team advanced to the Mid-American Conference championship game for the second time in the last five years. The difference between the 2005 squad and last year's team is that head coach 11th-year Reggie Witherspoon has the luxury of returning 11 players, including four starters for the 2009-10 campaign. Witherspoon feels that his experienced Bulls can improve on their 21-win season of a year ago and again challenge for a MAC title.

"We're still a deep team. I think we'll be a little bit more of an aggressive team," Witherspoon said. "I think we'll be a pretty balanced team. We have a number of guys who have contributed and are looking forward to the season."

Witherspoon will have the luxury of having seven seniors on the team and knows that will be a huge asset for the Bulls.

"I think it helps from a leadership standpoint and I think it helps from the standpoint of knowing and understanding the challenges that lie ahead," Witherspoon said. "It doesn't make anything easy, but it gives our guys an expectation of how difficult the challenge is and what's necessary to be resilient enough to challenge and to fight for another championship. I think it will help us develop our freshmen that are coming in now. They will have seniors that they can learn from."

One of those seniors is 2009 All-MAC First Teamer Rodney Pierce (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech). The shooting guard and Buffalo native led the Bulls in scoring, averaging 14.3 points per game to rank eighth in the MAC. He ranked second on the team in assists (2.1) and third in rebounding (3.6). He is only the second UB player to earn first-team All-MAC honors and the first to return for the following season. Witherspoon realizes this is going to be a challenge for Pierce, but one he can handle.

"It's a good thing, but it means he's going to have a target on his back," Witherspoon said. "We want to prepare him for the challenge; mentally more than anything else. He's going to have to be prepared to work harder to get what he got last year."

Who Pierce's backcourt running mate will be is one of the questions the coaching staff will have to answer. The Bulls lost All-MAC point guard Greg Gamble to graduation last year and will have a new player quarterbacking the offense this season.

The likely player to earn the job is John Boyer (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg). The UB senior played in all 33 games last season and was very serviceable as Gamble's backup. Boyer averaged 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. He had 52 assists to only 29 turnovers. Another senior Byron Mulkey (Wheatfield, NY/Niagara-Wheatfied) will also challenge for the starting role - a job he has held in the past. Mulkey has started 22 games in his career and has a career average of 6.4 points and 2.5 assists per game. When Gamble made the move to point guard last season, Mulkey's role was limited. However, it's likely his role will be expanded this year.

"They both have been playing well," Witherspoon said. "They do things a little bit differently, but I think they are getting better. We need a steady influence at that position and I think they understand that."

The Bulls will feature a pair of sharpshooters in the backcourt in Sean Smiley (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Zach Filzen (Northfield, MN/Northfield). Smiley has 80 career three-pointers in 75 career games and is coming off a season in which he averaged 3.6 points per game. Filzen is a sophomore transfer from Northern Arizona who is eligible this season after sitting out last year per NCAA transfer rules. He averaged 6.6 points and drained 48 three-pointers in 32 games his freshman campaign with the Lumberjacks. Tony Watson II (West Palm Beach, FL/Palm Beach Gardens) is a freshman point guard who is looking to make impact in his first season. Watson was a first-team All-State selection his senior season after averaging 19.4 points, 11 assists and five rebounds per game.

"Tony has been able to build up a fair amount of consistency pretty quickly," Witherspoon said. "He is getting a great challenge in practice every day, because everyone on the perimeter has been in college at least three years. Hopefully that will really accelerate his development."

The bulk of Buffalo's experience lies in its frontcourt will all three starters returning. Calvin Betts (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) continued to improve in 2009 and is blossoming into an All-MAC performer. He led the Bulls in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and ranked second on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg). He significantly improved his long-range shooting as he knocked down 41 three-pointers while shooting nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc. Witherspoon likes what he has seen from Betts, but knows there is room for improvement.

"Calvin has improved his ball handling a lot. Being able to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket," Witherspoon said. "We want to be able to take those improvements and not lose his ability to rebound the basketball. We want to improve his ability to run the floor."

Last year, the freshman duo of Mitchell Watt (Goodyear, AZ/Desert Edge) and Titus Robinson (Charlotte, NC/East Mecklenburg) were both inserted in the starting lineup early in the year and it was no coincidence that the Bulls went on to have a good season. Watt averaged 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, while Robinson tallied 4.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per night. Witherspoon feels that the sky's the limit for these two young men.

"They both have gotten stronger and they are both playing with a higher level of certitude," Witherspoon said. "They are thinking a little bit less, which is a good thing. I think they are depending on their instincts a little bit more. Last year was so new to them. They are anxious to put to use what they learned last year."

Another player who greatly improved last season was Max Boudreau (Montreal, Quebec/ Champlain St. Lambert). The senior forward averaged 6.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He finished the season on a strong note, averaging 14 points in the Bulls' three-game march to the MAC championship game. He scored a career-high 21 points against Ball State in the semifinals and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

"We are trying to get Max to a consistent level of energy," Witherspoon said. "He's still on the rise in terms of his improvement and we see that he has been developing in every part of his game. We want to get him to the point where he can become a dominant rebounder as well."

Also adding experience and depth to the frontcourt are junior Jawaan Alston (Uniontown, PA/Albert Gallatin) and senior Adekambi Laleye (Ottawa, Ontario/Champlain St. Lambert). Alston appeared in all 33 games last season and averaged 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. Laleye averaged 0.7 points and 1.6 rebounds in 12 games.

The Bulls will have a new face in the frontcourt with the arrival of freshman forward Mike

Clifford (Danvers, MA/Bishop Fenwick). Clifford averaged 26.3 points and 18.5 rebounds his senior season and finished his career with 1,707 points and 1,250 rebounds to become the only player in his school's history to score over 1,000 points and pull down more than 1,000 rebounds.

"Mike has a package of skills that we knew he had, but didn't know that he would be able to demonstrate them this quickly," Witherspoon said. "For him, it's just a matter of how fast he can pick up what we are doing."

Derek Wolfley (Attica, NY/Attica) is a 6-7 forward who transferred to UB from Iona. He will have to sit out the 2009-10 season per NCAA transfer rules.

The defending regular season co-champions of the Mid-American Conference will open the season on November 15 against Vermont at Alumni Arena. Following the Bulls' opener with the Catamounts, they will hit the road for a pair of games against Navy on Nov. 19 and Towson on Nov. 21. UB returns home to face Canisius (Nov. 24) in the first of two straight home games. They will host Army on Dec. 3.

The Bulls will play at Big Ten foe Purdue on Dec. 5 and Niagara on Dec. 9 before returning home to host Buffalo State on Dec. 12. A firstever game at Wisconsin-Green Bay awaits the Bulls on Dec. 22. Buffalo will close out the month of December by playing at the UCF Holiday Classic in Orlando. The Bulls will play Jacksonville on Dec. 29 and face either UCF or Liberty on Dec. 30.

The Bulls open Mid-American Conference action at home against Miami (OH) on Jan. 9 in the first of five straight games against East Division foes. On January 28, UB will play Ball State at Alumni Arena to begin a stretch of six games against teams from the West Division. Buffalo will host Kent State on a nationally televised game on Feb. 13. The game will tip off at noon and air on ESPNU.

UB will again participate in Bracket Buster Saturday on February 20. Again this season, the game will be played on the road.

After hosting Ohio in the regular season home finale on Feb. 27, the Bulls will travel to Miami (OH) to close out the regular season on March 4.

The Mid-American Conference Tournament begins on March 7 with first round games being played on campus sites. The remainder of the tournament will be played at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena starting on March 11.