MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As a high school standout in Morgantown and former head coach at the University of Charleston, Mark Downey has lived in the shadow of West Virginia basketball for years.
As a Bowling Green assistant this season, he’s even more familiar with Buffalo, having faced the Bulls twice during the Mid-American Conference home-and-home schedule.
“They’re talented,” he said. “Not real deep, because they play about eight guys, but they are talented.”
Downey joined the “MetroNews Sportsline” crew on Monday night to assess this week’s NCAA matchup between the Mountaineers (23-9) and Buffalo (23-9). Though he isn’t convinced Bobby Hurley’s team can cope with “Press Virginia” for 40 minutes, Downey said the 12 seed has enough firepower to spring an upset.
MAC player of the year Justin Moss led the league in scoring (17.6) and rebounds (9.2).
“They’re explosive offensively. They can really score,” Downey said. “They want to push it. They’re not afraid to let their guys play and get up and down the floor.
“And they don’t lack confidence at all. They’re going to bring it.”
For the record, Bowling Green (20-11) lost both meetings to the Bulls, 68-56 at home and 77-75 in Buffalo—the latter deciding the MAC East title.
Hear Downey’s complete “Sportsline” segment above.