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The Niagara Purple Eagles travel down I-190 to face Big 4 rival the Buffalo Bulls on Friday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.

The Purple Eagles, who lead the all-time series 56-30, snapped a four-game losing streak to Buffalo with a 92-81 win last season in their home opener. NU, which led as much as 16 points in the first half, held off two second half runs by the Bulls who cut the lead to four points twice. Niagara's 92 points were the most against UB in regulation since scoring 92 points on Dec. 13, 1992.

Niagara will be looking to win consecutive games in the series for first time since the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

How To Tune-In

• Friday's night game will air live on ESPN3 with Paul Peck and Kevin Sylvester on the call.
• Fans can listen live to all of the action from "The Voice of the Purple Eagles" Todd Callen on AM 1400 WWWS and on the Niagara Sports Network via PurpleEagles.com.

Tipoff Tidbits

• The Purple Eagles are 29-15 in their last 44 meetings in Big 4 matchups, including 3-4 against the Bulls.
• Three Purple Eagles netted season-highs in points in Niagara's last game versus Davidson. Ramone Snowden led NU with 14 points, Wesley Myers had 12 points and Dominique Reid scored eight points.
• Freshman Matt Scott led the Purple Eagles in scoring versus Canisius on Dec. 6 with a career-high 13 points while going perfect from the field (5-for-5), behind the 3-point line (2-for-2) and at the free-throw line (1-for-1).
• Redshirt sophomore Emile Blackman led all scorers with 21 points at St. John's on Dec. 2, which are the most by a Purple Eagle this season. Blackman leads the team in scoring with 11.9 ppg.
• Sophomore Ramone Snowden recorded his second double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds at St. John's on Dec. 2. Snowden, who has already doubled his total from last season, ranks third in the MAAC in double-doubles.
• The Purple Eagles have committed the fewest fouls (137) in the MAAC and rank 28th in the nation.
• According to KenPom.com, Niagara is the SIXTH youngest team in the nation. NU has 13 underclassmen on the roster.

Carom Carousel

• Ramone Snowden leads the team, is fifth in the MAAC and 97th in the nation with 7.9 rebounds per game.
• He is also third in the conference and 49th in the nation in defensive rebounds with 6.0 per game.
• Snowden is on pace for the most rebounds in a season since Bilal Benn's 298 (9.9 per game) during the 2009-10 season.
• Snowden has the top two rebounding outputs of the season for Niagara with 12 at St. John's and 11 at Saint Peter's.
• He is one of 15 MAAC players with multiple double-digit rebounds games.

On The Court
Buffalo Bulls (6-2, 0-0 Mid-American Conference)

• Buffalo has won six of its first eight games to start the season with losses coming against No. 1 Kentucky and Big 4 rival St. Bonaventure.
• UB has three players averaging in double figures - Justin Moss (16.5 ppg), Shannon Evans (14.1 ppg) and Jarryn Skeete (10.1 ppg).
• Moss leads the MAC with 16.5 points per game, 10.1 rebounds per game and with four double-doubles.
• This will be just the third home game of the season for the Bulls.

Against the Bulls (Niagara leads 56-30)

• Niagara topped Buffalo, 92-81, last season at home for Chris Casey's first career victory as both a Division I and the Niagara head coach.
• The win snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bulls.
• The Purple Eagles are 7-9 in the last 16 meetings and 3-5 in their last five trips to Alumni Arena with their last win coming in Nov. 2008.

Last Meeting - November 13, 2013
Niagara 92, Buffalo 81

NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara men's basketball team officially opened its 2013-14 home schedule by holding off Big 4 rival Buffalo, 92-81, on Wednesday night.

The Series	Niagara leads 56-30
Last Game	November 13, 2013
	Niagara 92, Buffalo 81
Last Niagara win	November 13, 2013
	Niagara 92, Buffalo 81
Last Buffalo win	December 8, 2012
	Niagara 67, Buffalo 77
Last Niagara win at Buffalo	November 25, 2008
	Niagara 65, Buffalo 61
Last Buffalo win at Home	December 8, 2012
	Niagara 67, Buffalo 77
Current streak	Niagara, W1
Coach Casey vs. Buffalo	1-0

Against The MAC

• Niagara is 86-50 all-time against the current version of the Mid-American Conference.
• The Purple Eagles have played the Bulls the most (86) with Kent State and Toledo coming in second at 10 meetings each.
• Niagara has a winning record against five teams - Bowling Green (6-3), Buffalo (56-30), Kent State (7-3), Central Michigan (3-1) and Toledo (6-4).

Strength of Schedule

• Niagara has the toughest non-conference schedule in the MAAC and ranks in the top-15 in the nation according to several metric sites.
• ESPN Daily RPI ranks NU's non-conference strength of schedule FOURTH, Live-RPI.com ranks it EIGHTH and KenPom.com ranks Niagara 12th.
• The Purple Eagles have played teams from the ACC (Pitt), Atlantic-10 (St. Bonaventure and Davidson), and the Big East (St. John's).

Perfect Scott

• Freshman Matt Scott led the Purple Eagles in scoring versus Canisius on Dec. 6 with a career-high 13 points while going perfect from the field (5-for-5), behind the 3-point line (2-for-2) and at the free-throw line (1-for-1).
• Scott became the first Purple Eagle to go perfect from the field, with a minimum of five field goal attempts, since Eric Williams went 5-for-5 at Central Connecticut State on Dec. 19, 2010.