Buffalo 57 Minnetonka 54 – Five Things to Know

<p>Buffalo knocked off Minnetonka 57-54 in a key Lake Conference victory Wednesday night. The Bison were led by another fine all around game from [player_tooltip player_id="850738" first="Antonio" last="Bluiett"]. Here are your Five Things to Know.</p> <p><strong>One. Bluiett Was Everywhere</strong>.   Buffalo junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850738" first="Antonio" last="Bluiett"] </strong>had one of the more interesting games I’ve seen from a top player this year. He finished with 18 points on 8 of 14 shooting and seven of those were attempts at the rim. When I say at the rim I mean lay-ups. It’s rare to see a guard score at the rim seven times at this level of competition but Bluiett had about three transition runs to score at the rim, he back-cut his man twice to catch and finish at the cup, and he also beat his opponent off the bounce and completed either before the help arrived or over the help. Added a three in the second half.</p> <p>In addition, Antonio played both on and off the ball ([player_tooltip player_id="958713" first="Carter" last="Jackson"] played some point as well) and wherever he was on the floor Antonio kept the ball moving. Passed with the intent to create for others (7 assists) and with the intent to keep the D moving. Throw in seven boards and a tough defensive assignment and you had an impressive night. Full scholarship talent for sure.</p> <p><strong>Two. Cain Scores 25</strong>. I loved how [player_tooltip player_id="962205" first="Jalen" last="Cain"] used his physical gifts to make 11 of 20 shots for a game high 25. Cain is a strong guard so when he got near the rim he muscled scores over the top of his initial player and/or the players that stepped into help position. Even when players were in position to score Cain had the strength to get the shot to the rim and the touch to complete it. But how did he get there? Cain also has a quick first step and a controlled attack game that allowed him to get by older veteran defenders. Then you add in his shooting touch which has developing range. Cain knocked out a pair of threes last night as well.</p> <p>Minnetonka had to rely on Jalen more last night than usual as a few of the other usual scorers for Tonka had a rough night. But Jalen handled the responsibility well only forcing a couple tough attempts on a night when they depended on him more than usual. At the half Tonka had 14 points but Cain led his team out of the struggle and gave his team a chance for the win.</p> <p><strong>Three. Big Game for Kellogg</strong>. The other reason the Skippers made a second half push was the play of junior guard [player_tooltip player_id="850734" first="Cohen" last="Kellogg"]. Cohen’s initial contribution towards cutting into the Buffalo lead was defensive. He had a key steal as well as a step over in help that either led to an offensive foul or a travel (couldn’t tell from the video). Kellogg also made three shots at the arc (one was taken away though due to a foul away from the ball a second before he sunk) and attacked the cup for three scores. Kellogg does a great job with the direct attack dribble covering good ground while shielding the ball. He also gets leverage on his man on the attack which allows him to move to space to release. Scored 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting and provided a big lift to the Skippers.</p> <p><strong>Four. The Buffalo Defense</strong>.   Why did Tonka need a comeback? Buffalo’s defense was outstanding.   Their fight to compete everything in front of them plus their intense communication and battle to help in the first half led to one of the best defensive halves of basketball I’ve seen this year. They held the Skippers to 6 of 22 shooting in the first 18 minutes and only 14 points. Double figure scoring/shooting threat [player_tooltip player_id="958768" first="Vlad" last="Ciubotaru"] had a hotly contesting hand in his face for nearly every shot leading to a scoreless evening on nine attempts. Tonka freshman Andy Stefonwicz was knocked offline by the physical Buffalo defenders regularly and Cain had to physically score over the defense for most of his 25. The strong Skipper second half led to them shooting 39.6 percent for the game which isn’t terrible but that was coupled with a turnover count that seemed to be quite high. Of course the Buffalo defense of Bluiett, [player_tooltip player_id="958713" first="Carter" last="Jackson"], Cameron Green, Luke Gunderson, and others played a big part in it.</p> <p><strong>Five. The Emergence of Zach Zrust</strong>. I think we are seeing the emergence of a really nice prospect in Buffalo 6-foot-8 junior power forward Zach Zrust. Zrust is scoring 15 points a game for the Bison and he looks to be a reasonably agile four-man with the agility and size to defend college fours. Zrust had two dunks last night showing off a bit of lift and explosion and in my first viewing of him this season Zrust seemed fairly comfortable getting up and down the floor and his actions after seeing the ball screen moving to the rim fits what a number of schools will be looking for. This is just one viewing so we need to see more but this one viewing of Zrust was quite encouraging.</p> <p><strong>Ranking the Prospects</strong>!</p> <p>How did the players look prospect wise last night? I’d go like this…..</p> <ol> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="962205" first="Jalen" last="Cain"] of Minnetonka (Soph)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="850738" first="Antonio" last="Bluiett"] of Buffalo (Jr)</li> <li>Zach Zrust of Buffalo (Jr)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="850734" first="Cohen" last="Kellogg"] of Minnetonka (Jr)</li> <li>Andy Stefonowicz of Minnetonka (Fr)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="958797" first="Will" last="Pool"] of Buffalo (Jr)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="958713" first="Carter" last="Jackson"] of Buffalo (Jr)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="958768" first="Vlad" last="Ciubotaru"] of Minnetonka (Jr)</li> <li>Cameron Green of Buffalo (Sr)</li> <li>Will Koeppen of Minnetonka (Fr)</li> </ol>