Coming into the NIU men’s basketball game against Buffalo on Sunday, the Huskies had one distinct advantage over their opponents – on paper.

The Huskies were the best team in the conference in rebounding margin, getting 4.4 more rebounds per game than their opponents.

Buffalo ranked sixth in the MAC and got only 0.6 more rebounds than its opponents.

However, in Buffalo’s 85-73 win over NIU, the Bulls outrebounded the league’s best rebounding team 39-28.

“We tried to keep [NIU] off the glass,” Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon said. “Their whole team rebounds, especially [Marcus] Smallwood. We wanted to keep them from dominating us. I thought that would be a big key to the game.”

NIU’s leading rebounder was 6-foot-3 Mike McKinney with seven.

Smallwood, who averages 10.2 rebounds per game, was held to a season-low five rebounds, one of which was on the offensive end.

“We knew rebounding would be a big part of deciding who won,” Buffalo guard Roderick Middleton said. “We wanted to keep them off the glass and beat them in hustle plays. We did a good job of stopping Smallwood. He only got one offensive rebound.”

Buffalo’s pair of 6-foot-10 centers, Yassin Idbihi and Mark Bortz, combined to grab 18 of Buffalo’s 39 rebounds.

Buffalo’s rebounding led to a 21-11 advantage in second-chance points and a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint.

“Mike did a good job,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “Our people inside usually rebound. But our best guy only got five.”