The No. 3 seed Bulls defeated No. 2 seed Ohio (21-11, 11-7 MAC) 88-74 in the MAC Semifinals Friday – Buffalo’s third straight win and fifth victory in its last seven games. Buffalo will face No. 1 seed Akron in the MAC Championship game Saturday with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
Six members of the UB basketball programs – two from the women’s squad and four from the men – were honored with Mid-American Conference accolades on Monday, highlighted by junior guard Joanna Smith’s selection to the All MAC First-Team.
The No. 3 seed Bulls (17-14, 10-8 MAC) will play No. 11 seed Miami Ohio (13-19, 6-12 MAC) in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio Thursday. Last season, Buffalo won the conference tournament as a No. 2 seed to advance to its first-ever NCAA Tournament.
Men’s basketball (17-14, 10-8 Mid-American Conference) The Bulls finished their final game of the regular season with a dramatic victory.
With an 87-83 win over Bowling Green on Friday night, the Bulls (17-14, 10-8 MAC) clinched the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in next week’s conference tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
Head coach Nate Oats couldn’t hide his frustration after the Bulls (16-14, 9-8 MAC) lost their second consecutive game – a 67-59 loss to Miami Ohio (12-18, 6-11 MAC) on Senior Night in Alumni Arena. Buffalo now holds the No. 6 seed in the MAC with four teams ahead of them tied with the same conference record (10-7).
The Bulls (16-13, 9-7 Mid-American Conference) fell to Ohio (19-9, 10-6 MAC) 103-96 in overtime on Saturday afternoon in Athens, Ohio. The Bobcats have now swept the season series against the Bulls and the loss pushes Buffalo down to third place in the MAC East with two games remaining in the regular season.
The Bulls (16-12, 9-6 Mid-American Conference) exploded for 51 points in the second half to knock off conference-rival Kent State (18-10, 9-6 MAC) 87-70 Tuesday night at Alumni Arena.
The maturation of “CJ Buckets” – the imposed nickname True Blue chants when Massinburg hits a pair of free throws or just when the student fans feel like doing it – has been unparalleled by any other freshman on the Bulls (16-12, 9-6 Mid-American Conference) this season. Within a year, Massinburg went from an unknown, unsigned high school senior, to the semi-occasional starting point guard of a Division-I basketball team gearing up for its conference tournament.
The men’s squad went 1-1 this past week and ended its three-game losing streak after an 88-74 home victory over Bowling Green (13-14, 4-10 MAC). Earlier in the week, Buffalo lost on the road to top-seeded Akron (21-6, 10-4 MAC) 80-70 before heading back home to take the victory over the Falcons.
The Bulls (15-12, 8-6 MAC) put up 50 second-half points en route to an 88-74 victory over Bowling Green (13-14, 4-10 MAC) in front of an announced crowd of 3,397 at Alumni Arena Saturday afternoon. Hamilton scored 16 of his career-high 24 points in the second half as the Bulls snapped their three-game losing streak.
Buffalo hosts Bowling Green (13-13, 4-9 MAC) Saturday and Kent State (17-9, 8-5 MAC) Tuesday in Alumni Arena. Oats remains hopeful that his team can get right back on track.
The men’s basketball team was a solid defensive half away from knocking off the hottest team in the Mid-American Conference. But Akron reminded the Bulls which team is the best three-point shooter in the league.
On Tuesday, the Buffalo men’s basketball team had its first extended moments without its best player. The Bulls (14-10, 7-4 Mid-American Conference) dropped a heartbreaker to Toledo 71-69, but the game was merely a backdrop for the larger story: sophomore guard Lamonte Bearden’s absence due to “conduct detrimental to the team.” After the game, head coach Nate Oats said that Bearden was “out indefinitely.” We’ve already seen the Bulls without Bearden.
Perkins has been a steady contributor to the Bulls (14-10, 7-4 Mid-American Conference) throughout his freshman season. Injuries to forwards David Kadiri and Raheem Johnson have resulted in Perkins getting more playing time than projected.
The Bulls (14-10, 7-4 Mid-American Conference) lost on a final second shot to Toledo (15-9, 6-5 MAC) in front of an announce crowd of 2,706 Alumni Arena on Tuesday. The Bulls had a chance to tie the game with 1.4 seconds left, but an errant out-of-bounds pass resulted in a turnover and the end of Buffalo’s four-game winning streak.
The men’s basketball team has suspended sophomore guard Lamonte Bearden for at least Tuesday night’s game against Toledo for conduct detrimental to the team.
After being down as much as 15 points, the UB Bulls rallied to defeat Eastern Michigan 80-70 to start their three-game homestand off with a win.
The Bulls (13-9, 6-3 Mid-American Conference) shut down one of the top teams in the MAC with a 90-78 victory over Northern Illinois (16-6, 5-4 MAC) on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center in Dekalb, Illinois. Buffalo handed the Huskies their first loss at home this season and held them to 38.6 percent shooting from the field.
Both the men and women look to starting winning streaks on the road this weekend.
Solutions by The State News
