Buffalo confident heading into matchup with Arizona

Before the Buffalo Bulls boarded a plane to head west to face Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, coach Nate Oats waxed poetic about the Wildcats having four NBA players on their roster and how the NCAA committee didn't do them any favors.

Then, he talked about Arizona's 7-footers Deandre Ayton and Dusan Ristic and how good they were, but an advantage for his team may be that they have to defend on the perimeter against Buffalo's smaller, arguably quicker lineup.

"Personally, I don't think that matchup is that bad," Oates told TV stations in Buffalo. "We can help on the bigs; we can double the bigs ... they are really good, preseason No. 1 ... but I don't think it's…