MAC Men’s Basketball Upcoming Schedule
Friday, February 14
Buffalo at Toledo, 6:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Akron at Central Michigan, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
 
Saturday, February 15
Ohio at Kent State, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
Bowling Green at Ball State, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Northern Illinois at Miami, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
 
All times listed are ET
 
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
AKRON
The Akron Zips are riding a two-game winning streak and coming off a 74-59 win over top-ranked Bowling Green as Akron travels to Mount Pleasant, Mich. For an cross divisional matchup with Central Michigan. On Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m., Akron will battle the Chippewas at McGuirk Arena.The contest will be televised on ESPNU. Four different players have scored at least 20 points 20 times this season. Loren Cristian Jackson leads with nine 20-plus point performances, registering a career-high 35 points in addition to a 33-, a trio of 28-, a pair of 26- and a pair of 20-point efforts.
 
BALL STATE
Ishmael El-Amin scored 22 points, two shy of his career best, to lift the Ball State men's basketball team to a 63-59 victory over Northern Illinois Tuesday night in Worthen Arena. The Cardinals (14-10, 7-4 MAC) moved to 5-0 at home against league foes this year and also cooled down a red-hot Northern Illinois (15-10, 8-4 MAC) squad that leads the MAC West Division. 
 
BOWLING GREEN
Bowling Green was defeated by the University of Akron, 74-59, Tuesday evening. The Mid-American Conference contest was played inside of UA's James A. Rhodes Arena. Despite the loss, BGSU remains all alone in first place in the MAC. Daeqwon Plowden posted his eighth double-double of the season, as he finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt-junior guard Justin Turner added 12 points and three assists.
 
BUFFALO
Buffalo has won four straight against Toledo, including sweeping the season series from the Rockets last year. Of those four games, only one was a Savage Arena, an 88-82 win almost exactly one year ago (2/15/19). In the last two meetings at Alumni Arena, Buffalo has scored over 100 points in each and the fourth contest was a meeting in the 2018 MAC Championship game, a 76-66 victory for UB sending the Bulls to the NCAA Tournament.
 
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
The Chippewas have dropped two straight games, including a 73-70 set back at home to Eastern Michigan and 65-60 defeat at Buffalo. Central Michigan is 11-2 (4-2 MAC) at home and 2-8 (2-2 MAC) on the road. CMU averages a MAC-best 81.3 points per game on 44.1 percent shooting from the floor (652-of-1480) and 34.2 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc (191-of-558), draining 8.3 triples a game. CMU has four players scoring in double figures led by David DiLeo, who recently became the all-time career-leader for 3-point field goals for Central Michigan and the Mid-American Conference. 
 
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan (13-11, 3-8 MAC) earned its third win in the last four games, downing in-state foe Central Michigan, 73-70, in Mount Pleasant, Mich., Feb. 11. Western Michigan looks to return to the win column after its two-game win streak was snapped with a 73-61 setback at Ohio, Feb. 11. lose games are no stranger to EMU, as it has seen contests down to the wire in the last nine-of-10 games. In all nine games, the outcome has been decided with a margin of six-or-less points. Overall, 37 of the MAC's 66 (56.1 percent) conference games played this year have been decided by six-or-fewer points.
 
KENT STATE
The Kent State men's basketball team came up short despite a tough defensive battle at the Convocation Center on Friday night. The Flashes fell to the Huskies, 57-54. The Golden Flashes dropped to 16-8 overall and 6-5 in MAC play. Danny Pippen led the Flashes with 16 points and eight rebounds while Roberts rounded out the double-figure scoring with 13 points. Senior Antonio Williams grabbed a team-high 10 boards.
 
MIAMI
Despite some second half offensive struggles, Miami nearly pulled off a late comeback before falling, 65-57, to Toledo on Tuesday. The RedHawks are now 9-15 overall and 2-9 in the Mid-American Conference. The Rockets are 12-13 overall and 4-8 in the MAC. Nike Sibande finished with 11 points for Miami before fouling out. Dae Dae Grant scored eight, while Isaiah Coleman-Lands finished with six points and a career-high tying six rebounds. Toledo was led by Marreon Jackson with 24 points.
 
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois trailed by as much as 15 in the second half before charging back to within one, but Ball State held off the late Huskie rally to claim a 63-59 victory over NIU on Tuesday night at Worthen Arena. The loss snapped NIU's six-game winning streak. Senior Eugene German scored a team-high 18 points, junior Zaire Mateen and freshman Tyler Cochran each came off the bench to add 10 points. 
 
OHIO
Sophomore guard Jason Preston recorded his sixth double double of the season when the Ohio men's basketball team defeated Western Michigan on Tuesday night in the Convocation Center. Individually, Preston shot 9-of-17 from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the free throw line. Preston recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in his 38 minutes of play. Redshirt sophomore forward Ben Vander Plas shot 8-of-18 from the from the field with 19 points, nine boards and one assist in his 36 minutes of play. Redshirt senior guard Jordan Dartis had 15 points, shot 3-of-5 from behind the arc and shot 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
 
TOLEDO
Toledo snapped a five-game losing streak with Tuesday's 65-57 home victory over Miami, while the Bulls have been idle since last Friday's 65-60 home triumph over Central Michigan. Buffalo has won the last four matchups in the series after the Rockets had won four of the previous five contests against the two-time defending conference champions.   Junior Marreon Jackson is leading Toledo in scoring and ranks second in the MAC with 19.7 ppg and 5.8 apg. He is one of five players to rank among the nation's Top 40 in points and assists per game.
 
WESTERN MICHIGAN
In its second meeting of the season the Western Michigan men's basketball team fell to Mid-American Conference East Division foe Ohio, 73-61 on Tuesday night inside the Convocation Center. Offensively Western Michigan was led by junior guard Michael Flowers with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field with four three-pointers. The Southfield, Mich., native was also 3-of-4 from the free-throw line and ranked tied for second on the team with five rebounds.