During the early portion of the college basketball season teams undergo a journey of

discovery. What works, and what doesn't? What are the strengths and where lay the weaknesses?

Canisius coach Tom Parrotta and University at Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon bring

distinctly different views of their own teams into their rivalry renewal at 7 tonight at

Alumni Arena.

Parrotta's hopeful his players will latch onto the defensive intensity they misplaced in

their season-opening, 89-69 loss at Loyola (Ill.) and rediscovered in Saturday's 79-69 win at

St. Francis (N.Y.). Conversely, Witherspoon is satisfied with the Bulls' defensive development

but retains concerns with their offensive flow after back-to-back road wins at Navy (63-53)

and Towson (78-69 in overtime).

Offense is, at least for now, far down on Parrotta's list of priorities. The addition of

freshmen guards Alshwan Hymes and Reggie Groves gives the Griffs (1-1) more scoring options

than they've had anytime in Parrotta's fourth-year tenure.

"We don't talk much about offense quite honestly," Parrotta said Monday. "We really focus

in on the defensive end. And that's why it was troubling to me that we didn't go out there and

really, really throw a blanket on them offensively. However, you got to give Loyola a lot of

credit, too, and they made a lot of shots and a lot of tough shots."

Witherspoon has had offense on his mind since the season-opener, a 58-57 loss to visiting

Vermont. The Bulls (2-1) made 31 percent from the field, with shot selection an issue.

"I knew after our first game it was going to take us a little while to get back into

rhythm," Witherspoon said. "We took some bad shots in the first game and sometimes guys have a

tendency to reassess that just before they shoot, and you're not going to make shots if you

reassess whether you should shoot them just before you shoot them. And you're likely not to be

in rhythm either, so that's not going to get you back into rhythm. So you just have to go

through it. It's a learning process. We showed some signs in the second half against Towson."

Neither coach has an issue with the play of his starting senior point guard, at least not

off the last outings. UB's John Boyer played 36 of 45 minutes against Towson and filled the

stat sheet: 12 assists, eight rebounds, six points and three steals against just three

turnovers. For Canisius, Frank Turner produced a career game against St. Francis, scoring 27

points while shooting 9 of 11 from both the field and the line.

"I thought Frank, the floor game that he played, I told him yesterday was probably the best

floor game of his career because he took the shots that he could make, he really, really

defended and he distributed the basketball," Parrotta said. "He controlled the game from start

to finish, got his teammates involved and played to his strengths. That's what I expect, not

necessarily 27 points, but I expect that floor game every night from him. And being a senior,

that's what's on his shoulders."

UB won last year's meeting, 69-64, at the Koessler Athletic Center after building a 41-24

halftime lead. Rodney Pierce had 26 for UB, Turner 16 for the Griffs.

. . . Lewis' return up in air

There's still no definitive word on the return of Niagara senior guard Tyrone Lewis, who

has missed the last four games with a foot bruise. His presence was missed in the Purple

Eagles' 69-67 loss to Austin Peay on Sunday in the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach,

Fla., a game in which Niagara led by 17 after six minutes.

Assuming Lewis comes back soon and remains healthy, his absence for the short term could

bring long-term benefits. Sophomore guard Austin Cooley, in particular, has seen increased

playing time.

Niagara plays at Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday night and faces Akron on the road Monday.

. . . Bona-fide?

The Bonnies (2-1) leave Western New York for the first time this season for the BTI Classic

at Illinois State on Friday through Sunday. Bona opens against Southeast Missouri State (1-2),

then gets Norfolk State (1-2) and host Illinois State (2-0).