Nick Perkins scored 18 points off the bench to lead a balanced attack as No. 22 Buffalo defeated visiting Dartmouth 110-71 on Wednesday night.
Davonta Jordan and Jayvon Graves each scored 16, and Jeenathan Williams and Jeremy Harris added 11 points apiece as the Bulls (4-0) never trailed. Perkins added a game-high 10 rebounds plus three blocks, two steals and one assist in the win.
Buffalo prevailed despite the absence of C.J. Massinburg, who averages a team-best 20.3 points per game. Massinburg is out for two weeks due to a knee sprain.
The Bulls entered averaging 81 points per game on 39.6 percent field-goal shooting. Against Dartmouth, Buffalo surpassed the 81-point mark with 12 minutes remaining and shot 59.2 percent (45 of 76) from the field.
Ian Sistare led Dartmouth (3-2) with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Chris Knight added 17 points and five rebounds.
The Bulls are in the AP Top 25 poll this season for the first time in school history. They beat then-No. 13 West Virginia 99-94 in overtime in Morgantown, W.Va., on Nov. 9.
Buffalo raced out to a 15-0 lead on Wednesday before Dartmouth scored its first basket with 15 minutes left in the first half.
Dartmouth stormed back in less than five minutes to get back in the game.
A Sistare 3-pointer cut the deficit to 28-22 with 10:34 to go.
Dartmouth cut it to 28-25 on a Knight layup and free throw 37 seconds later, but then the Bulls' defense stiffened, and Buffalo took control going into halftime.
Montell McCrae sank a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 37-29 lead with 7:23 left before intermission. Graves made it 39-29 with a basket at the 4:49 mark.
Another Knight layup ended another Big Green drought, but the Bulls closed out the half on 16-8 run to lead 55-39 entering the second half.
As good as the Bulls were in the first half, they were better in the second half, outscoring the Big Green 55-32.
Buffalo opened the second half on an 11-3 run with Perkins scoring five points as the Bulls opened up a 66-42 lead with 17:27 to go.
The lead grew to 36 at 91-55 by the 9:26 mark.
--Field Level Media
Dartmouth | Buffalo | |
Ian Sistare 18 | Scoring | Nick Perkins 18 |
Brendan Barry 1 | Assists | Jayvon Graves 6 |
Brendan Barry 7 | Rebounds | Nick Perkins 10 |
Adrease Jackson 4 | Free Throws Made | Nick Perkins 5 |
Brendan Barry 2 | Steals | Jayvon Graves 2 |
Brendan Barry 1 | Blocks | Nick Perkins 3 |