CBB: Buffalo's Mr. March
The Buffalo Bulls are entering the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the West Region, after going 31-3 in the regular season and conference tournament. It's been a special year for the Bulls, but there is still a lot of work left to do in the month of March. And one of the biggest reasons they're expected to compete in the tournament is senior forward Jeremy Harris. Harris is fresh off a spectacular MAC Tournament, where he walked away with the MVP award. In the quarterfinals, Buffalo blew away Akron, 82-46, behind 23 points and eight rebounds from Harris. In the championship game versus Bowling Green, he took over down the stretch and finished with 31 points, five rebounds, and two assists on 65.0 percent shooting in the 87-73 victory.
"Jeremy always seems to find his game down here. Call him Mr. March for a reason. He shows up down here and he was great last tournament, he was great again today," head coach Nate Oats said. "We got this blue collar thing we've got going. Jeremy won the hard hat. When you're doing all that stuff, taking charges and getting deflections and getting stops, he's pretty good on defense or offense. So really happy for him. I just hope it's big arenas and big lights because every game we're going to play from here on out is going to be in a big arena with a lot of media coverage. He's a big-time player. He was great down here last year. I don't know if you guys remember, those first two games he played down here last year he was unbelievable."
Harris helped Buffalo win the MAC Tournament title a year ago as well, and that propelled the Bulls to an upset victory over No. 4 seed Arizona. Harris had 23 points, seven rebounds, and a steal on 50.0 percent shooting from the field. He was incredible last year in March, and so far this season, it looks like a similar story. Buffalo will face No. 11 seed Arizona State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament after the Sun Devils defeated St. John's in the First Four. Harris, along with MAC Player of the Year C.J. Massinburg, have put the country on notice and proved they can beat teams like West Virginia and Syracuse. "My teammates and my coaches, they believe in me so much, they just always tell me to keep going. It's amazing to play with this group of guys."
Photo Credit: FOX Sports.
