Five MAC Men's Basketball Games On Tonight's Slate
MBB Release: https://bit.ly/2FZvrJ8
Updated Statistics: https://bit.ly/2STKuGG
This Weekend’s Schedule
Tuesday, February 19th
Kent State at Central Michigan - 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Ball State at Miami - 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Toledo at Eastern Michigan 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Ohio at Buffalo - 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Akron at Bowling Green - 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
What You Need To Know...
• The Falcons are 10-2 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since 1979-80. With six regular-season games to go, BGSU sits in first place in the MAC with a 10-2 record.
• Buffalo won a pair of games on the road at Akron and Toledo this past week. Entering the week, Akron and Toledo were a combined 22-2 at home, but UB came away with wins in both. They are currently the only Top 25 team with at least 10 true road wins and they are just one of six teams in the entire nation with at least 10 true road wins.
• Ball State Junior forward Tahjai Teague moved within 25 points of 1,000 for his career. BSU would become the only team in the country with four active 1,000-point scorers.
• The MAC is currently ranked as the ninth conference in the nation based on average NET Rankings. (Feb. 13, 2019). Buffalo (24), Toledo (56) and Bowling Green (98) are currently ranked in the Top-100.
Team-By-Team Notes
AKRON
The Akron Zips look to extend its two-game winning streak over Bowling Green while the league-leading Falcons try to avenge a 2017-18 season sweep when Akron rolls into the Stroh Center on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. A win would extend Akron's winning streak to three games over Bowling Green. The Zips are ranked 13th in the NCAA for scoring defense only allowing 62.3 points per game.
BALL STATE
Ball State has bounced back from a four-game losing streak with three straight wins, most recently defeating Akron, 57-56. The Cardinals slugged it out with the MAC’s top defensive team, and Trey Moses scored the game-winner on a tip-in with 15 seconds left. Junior forward Tahjai Teague moved within 25 points of 1,000 for his career. Ball State would become the only team in the country with four active 1,000-point scorers. The Cardinals are currently one of five with three, along with Lipscomb, Northwestern, TCU and Washington.
BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons are 10-2 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since 1979-80. With six regular-season games to go, BGSU sits in first place in the MAC with a 10-2 record. Nationally ranked Buffalo is also 10-2, but in second place due to the fact that BGSU defeated the Bulls on Feb. 1. Over the weekend, the Falcons picked up an 87-67 win at Northern Illinois on Feb. 16. The Falcons will finish the regular season with a 7-1 record against MAC West competition. Redshirt-sophomore guard Justin Turner was named the MAC East Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday (Feb. 18). Turner averaged 27.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in wins over Central Michigan (Feb. 12) and Northern Illinois (Feb. 16).
BUFFALO
Buffalo won a pair of games on the road at Akron and Toledo this past week. Entering the week, Akron and Toledo were a combined 22-2 at home, but UB came away with wins in both. They are currently the only Top 25 team with at least 10 true road wins and they are just one of six teams in the entire nation with at least 10 true road wins. Buffalo will begin a three-game home stand on Tuesday against Ohio. UB currently has 22 straight home wins, tied with Michigan for the third highest total in the nation.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
David DiLeo became the 33rd player in program history to score 1,000 career points at Bowling Green; CMU has recorded double-digit wins at home for five consecutive years, totaling 61 during that time frame. CMU is 11-2 in McGuirk Arena thus far this season; With the win over Ohio, the Chippewas’ fifth consecutive .500 or better season was guaranteed, the program’s longest such streak since the early 1970s (1969-75); If CMU should win three more games this season, it would mark the first time since the mid-1960s (1965-66, 1966-67) that the Chippewas’ would post back-to-back 20-win seasons.
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan's win at Ohio was the second under Head Coach Rob Murphy and just the third for Eastern since 2000... Eastern holds the same mark after 12 conference games in 2018-19 as it did in 2017-18 (5-7). The Eagles went on to win its last six regular season games to secure an automatic big to Cleveland... Thompson, who is the active NCAA rebound leader, needs an average of 9.1 caroms per contest to pass the all-time mark.
KENT STATE
Kent State improved to 19-6 overall and 8-4 in MAC play after back-to-back wins against MAC West opponents. Kent State is 6-1 this season when playing against a MAC West foe, and will look to add another win in the column on Tuesday as they take on Central Michigan. Kent State closes out their series with Buffalo on Friday in Buffalo.
MIAMI
Miami returns to Millett Hall as it welcomes Ball State on Tuesday. Tip time is 7 p.m and it will air live on ESPN+. Miami has put a renewed emphasis on rebounding in its last few Mid-American Conference games. When conference play began, the RedHawks were outrebounded in each of their first four games. They have turned it around and have outrebounded their opponents in three of their past four MAC games. Redshirt senior Abdoulaye Harouna scored a season-high 17 points against Western Michigan last Saturday. He was 5-for-9 from the field, including going 4-for-5 from the three-point line. It was only one point off his career high of 18 points set on Jan. 3, 2017 against Northern Illinois.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois University men's basketball team fell to Bowling Green this past Saturday, 87-67, at the NIU Convocation Center. Senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) led four Huskies in double figures with 18 points, along with a team-high six rebounds. NIU will have a week off before the Huskies return to action next Saturday, February 23, at Toledo. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT and will be available on CBS Sports Network.
OHIO
The Ohio men's basketball team (11-13, 3-9 MAC) returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 19 when the Bobcats head to Buffalo, N.Y. to take on Mid-American Conference East foe No. 25 Buffalo (22-3, 10-2 MAC). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside Alumni Arena. This is the 47th all-time meeting between Ohio and Buffalo, with Ohio leading the series, 32-14. However, Buffalo has won the last three contests and the last four out of five matchups. The Bobcats scored 80 points for the first time on Saturday since their Jan. 22 win against Western Michigan. Vader Plas is the first Bobcat to crack 20 points since Jason Carter on Jan. 8 at Bowling Green.
TOLEDO
Toledo (20-5, 8-4 MAC) looks to rebound from Friday's 88-82 home setback to No. 24 Buffalo (22-3, 10-2 MAC) when it travels to Ypsilanti, Mich. to face Eastern Michigan (11-14, 5-7 MAC) on Tuesday, Feb. 19. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m. in EMU's Convocation Center with the contest being streamed on ESPN-Plus. Tuesday's contest will be the first of two meetings between UT and EMU and will begin a season-ending stretch of six straight MAC West Division games for the Rockets. UT holds a two-game lead over Central Michigan (17-8, 6-6 MAC) in the West standings and is three games in front of the Eagles and Ball State (14-11, 5-7 MAC). Toledo's loss to the Bulls snapped its five-game winning streak and was just the Rockets' second home setback this season. The contest was played before a sold-out crowd of 7,401 fans, the largest in Savage Arena since it was renovated in 2008.
WESTERN MICHIGAN
WMU is coming off three home games in five days in which the Broncos picked up their first two wins in MAC play …. After defeating Miami in OT, the Broncos are now 2-1 in OT games this season, outscoring its opponents 34-22 … with 234 rebounds, Seth Dugan is just 43 rebounds away from cracking the Top 10 in a single season in school history.
