Buckle Up: A Crazy Final Two Weeks Of #MACtion Begins Tonight!
MBB Release: https://bit.ly/2FZvrJ8
Updated Statistics: https://bit.ly/2STKuGG
Tuesday, February 26th
Central Michigan at Eastern Michigan - 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Ohio at Kent State - 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Akron at Buffalo - 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Toledo at Ball State 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Miami at Bowling Green - 7:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
Western Michigan at Northern Illinois - 8:00 PM ET (
ESPN+)
What You Need To Know...
• The No. 21/23 Bulls won their 24th game of the season on Friday night, the second most in school history in single season. Buffalo picked up its 24th straight win at Alumni Arena, tying Tennessee for the second longest home winning streak in the country. Buffalo moved up to No. 21 in the AP Top 25 and has now been ranked a MAC record 16-straight weeks.
• With a win on Tuesday, Bowling Green would be the second team to clinch a top-four seed in the 2019 MAC Tournament
• The MAC is currently ranked as the eighth conference in the nation based on average NET Rankings. (Feb. 25, 2019). Buffalo (16), Toledo (66) and Bowling Green (100) are currently ranked in the Top-100.
Team-By-Team Notes
AKRON
The Akron Zips travel to No. 21 ranked Buffalo as the Mid-American Conference's top offense (Buffalo) and top defense (Akron) are set to clash on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., at Alumni Arena. Akron is 0-31 all-time against Top 25 opponents. The Akron Zips have the 21st ranked defensive efficiency rating in the NCAA with a 93.2. Tuesday's game marks the 63rd meeting in series history between Akron and Buffalo, and 13th meeting for a Groce coached squad, fourth at Akron. Akron holds an all-time 34-28 series advantage while Groce is 5-7 overall and 0-3 at Akron.
BALL STATE
Ball State hosts Mid-American Conference West Division leader Toledo for the second meeting between the teams this season. The Cardinals won the first matchup, 79-64, at Toledo in the league opener. The Cardinals are coming off a 64-57 loss to CMU in a contest they led by 14 points in the second half. Ball State has won five straight meetings with Toledo, and the Cardinals have not trailed at any point over the past four matchups. BSU has won the past three meetings in Muncie. Junior forward Tahjai Teague needs just six more points to join the 1,000-point club and make Ball State one of only two teams in the country with four active 1,000-point scorers.
BOWLING GREEN
Bowling Green is set to finish its home-and-home series with the Miami RedHawks on Tuesday (Feb. 26) night at the Stroh Center. On Jan. 26 in Oxford, Miami defeated the Falcons by a score of 67-53, handing BGSU its first MAC loss of the season and ending the Falcons’ 10-game winning streak. With a win on Tuesday, Bowling Green would clinch a top-four seed in the 2019 MAC Tournament, which would give the Falcons a first-round bye to the quarterfinals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. BGSU is one win away from securing a 20-win season for the 14th time in program history.
BUFFALO
The Bulls won their 24th game of the season on Friday night, the second most in school history in single season. Buffalo picked up its 24th straight win at Alumni Arena, tying Tennessee for the second longest home winning streak in the country. On Tuesday night, UB scored 114 points against Ohio, its highest point total ever against a D-I opponent. UB all won the game by 47 points, there largest margin of victory in a game against a Division I opponent. The Bulls broke a 23-year old school record for three-pointers in a game as the Bulls had 19 threes against Ohio, led by seven from sophomore Jayvon Graves, who had a career high 26 points. The Bulls became the first MAC team to secure a bye to Cleveland, the sixth straight year that UB has locked up one of the top four seeds in the conference tournament. The Bulls will conclude a three-game homestand on Tuesday night against Akron before heading to Miami on Friday night.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Riding a three-game winning streak, Central Michigan (19-8, 8-6 MAC) will head back out on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 26, visiting MAC West and in-state rival Eastern Michigan (13-14, 7-7 MAC) for a 7 p.m. contest at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti. With 1 more win, CMU will post back-to-back 20-win seasons for the 1st time since the mid-1960s; Shawn Roundtree Jr. needs 36 points to reach 1,000 career points after just 2 years as a Chippewa.
EASTERN MICHIGAN
The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team wraps its three-game home stand against Mid-American Conference rival Central Michigan University Tuesday, Feb. 26, with a 7 p.m. tip inside the Convocation Center. Eastern's win over Western Michigan Feb. 23 marked the third-straight victory over the Broncos dating back to the 2017-18 season. It is the eighth streak of three-or-more wins against Western Michigan in program history... Head coach Rob Murphy moved to 7-1 at home against WMU in his career... The Eagles finished the week +4.5 in turnover margin, their best two-game spread during conference play.
KENT STATE
The Kent State University men's basketball team will face MAC East Division rival Ohio on Tuesday, Feb. 26 in the M.A.C. Center. The Flashes already defeated Ohio, 66-52, earlier this season and will try to record their second win of the series. Kent State looks to bounce back from a two-game slip as they host Ohio on Tuesday night, followed by traveling to Bowling Green on Friday night. Jaylin Walker ranks 26th in the country in 3-point FG per game and leads the conference with 3.27. He ranks 23rd in the country in points per game (21.4) and is the conference leader, while ranked second in the conference in 3-point field goals made (72) ranking 63rd in the nation.
MIAMI
he Miami University men's basketball team concludes its two-game road trip with a contest at Bowling Green on Tuesday. The RedHawks hold an 84-57 lead in the all-time series with the Falcons. With a fantastic defensive effort, Miami handed Bowling Green its first conference loss of the season, 67-53, in their first meeting on Jan. 26. Offensively, sophomore guard Nike Sibande led the way for the RedHawks with 25 points.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team hosts Western Michigan on Tuesday night, February 26, in its penultimate home game of the regular season. NIU returns home after dropping a tight, 57-54 decision this past Saturday at Toledo (Feb. 23). Junior Eugene German (Gary, Ind./21st Century Charter) scored a game-high 22 points for the Huskies and currently ranks 39th nationally in scoring at 20.3 points per game. Senior Levi Bradley (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) enters Tuesday's contest having played in 125 career games, never missing a game in his Huskie career. Bradley is just one game behind Travon Baker (2012-16) for the NIU school record for games played.
OHIO
The Ohio men's basketball team returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 26 when the Bobcats head to Kent, Ohio for a matchup with Mid-American Conference East foe Kent State. The Bobcats and Flashes met earlier this season in Jan. 15 in Athens, where Kent State came away with the 66-52 victory. Jason Carter went 4-of-9 from the field as well as 2-of-2 from the free-throw line for 11 points while compiling a game-high 13 rebounds and a game-high four assists in 31 minutes of play. Doug Taylor is leading the Bobcats with 1.9 blocks per game and needs one more block to move into fifth all-time in program history in career blocks.
TOLEDO
Toledo looks to maintain its hold on first place in the Mid-American Conference's West Division when it visits Ball State on Tuesday. The Rockets rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit on Saturday to pull out a gritty 57-54 victory over Northern Illinois. The victory was UT's fifth straight over the Huskies. Senior Nate Navigato paced UT's attack with a season-tying high 21 points. Toledo has lost its last five meetings against the Cardinals, including a 79-64 setback in the conference opener on Jan. 4.
WESTERN MICHIGAN
Last Saturday at Eastern Michigan, seniors Seth Dugan and Josh Davis each recorded a double-double, the fifth time this season the duo has done so … Seth Dugan with 12 double-doubles ranks fourth in school history for most in a single-season …. WMU seeks two more MAC victories to secure the program’s 500th all-time.
