Davonta Jordan nostalgically looks back on the senior nights he attended as a member of the Buffalo men’s basketball team.
His freshman year in 2017, he watched Blake Hamilton say goodbye to the program. In 2018, he said goodbye to Wes Clark. Last year, Jordan gave his best to CJ Massinburg, one of the five seniors who helped UB in its most historic season.
Now it’s UB’s turn to say goodbye to Jordan as he plays his last home game on Tuesday for the Bulls.
As his four years at UB come to an end, he has wisdom for his young teammates.
“The example I want to give them? It won’t always follow you, but you have to keep fighting and doing everything in your power to be the best you can be, “said Jordan. “When you do that, everything will work out for you.”
Cocoa, Florida primary guard will be one of five seniors to be honored before kick-off when UB (18-11, 9-7 Mid-American Conference) finishes their home game schedule at 7 pm h. against Miami (Ohio).
The Bulls are fourth in the MAC qualifying rounds, but may well need to win to win one of the first four seeds of the MAC tournament, which begins Monday with first round games on the fifth, sixth, campuses seventh and eighth seeds. The top four teams deserve a pass to the MAC quarter-finals, which begin March 12 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
“All you can do is worry about the next game,” said UB coach Jim Whitesell after an 86-73 loss to Akron on Saturday. “I’m worried about Miami. You’re playing for Tuesday night’s game. You want to get better. The biggest thing. What we need to get is to play better than that.
“I told them we are very capable of doing it, but other teams are also trying to do it. This is called competition. We have to get up, play harder, play better, be more complete at both ends of the floor. “
The Bulls are currently tied for fourth with Ball State (9-7 in MAC), and are one game behind No. 3 Northern Illinois (10-6). However, UB holds the tiebreaker on Ball State with a win against Akron; Ball State is 0-1 against the zips.
Next week will not be for the faint of heart …
?: https://t.co/zNrFXNAi0w | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/dWr6cRe4Wp
– #MACtion (@MACSports) February 29, 2020
“It will be a two-game win,” said Jordan. “Especially if we want to get a place here in Cleveland. We have to go there and take care of business. The coach insisted that we can still do it. Put what’s in the past, keep it in the past and move on to the next game. “
As he approaches his last game at the Alumni Arena, Jordan also reflects on how he grew up, personally. He will graduate in social science this semester. He aspires to play professional basketball.
In November, he became the father of Niyunae, now almost four months old.
“Whenever I’m crazy about myself, usually about basketball, I come home and hold my daughter,” said Jordan. “All I do is make myself happy, no matter what the circumstances or what kind of situation I find myself in. Having a daughter is something every man wants to have. Some men want to have a boy, but a girl brings a whole side of you that you don’t think you have. “
In his first three seasons at UB, Jordan helped the Bulls win two MAC tournament championships and win victories in the 2018 and 2019 NCAA tournaments.
“Each year I have added a layer to my game,” said Jordan. “Everything I have done here at UB has transformed me into an exceptional young man who works hard and doesn’t take days off.”
Jordan averages 11.4 points and 5.3 rebounds and has 152 assists in 29 games this season. In 131 games in four seasons, Jordan has an average of 6.9 points and 3.2 rebounds and overshadowed the 500 assists threshold on Saturday.
Now, with two regular season games remaining, Jordan will be enjoying his final days at UB.
“It’s like yesterday I walked through the door here,” said Jordan. “Now is the last home game. It happened quickly. It happened so quickly. And I will miss it. “
Bona women at the A-10 tournament
The Saint-Bonaventure women’s basketball team opens the Atlantic 10 Conference women’s basketball tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Massachusetts.
The Bonnies (7-22) are the 12th seeded in the 14-team conference. The fifth seed UMass beat Bona, 62-52, Jan. 8 at the Reilly Center.
Asianae Johnson, a sophomore guard, leads the Bonnies with 12.4 points per game, while Deja Francis averages 9.1 points and Dajah Logan 9.0. Emily Calabrese leads the Bonnies with 6.1 rebounds per game, and Johnson averaged 5.4 rebounds per game.
Sam Breen leads UMass (19-10) with 17.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Hailey Leidel is third in the Atlantic 10 in the standings (16 points per game).
The winner of the first round match at Amherst, Mass., Advances to the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Friday in Dayton, Ohio, against the winner of No. 4 Saint Louis and No. 13 George Mason.
