Bulls Open MAC Tournament Against Akron on Thursday Evening

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (15-16, 9-9 MAC) will play the 3-seeded Akron Zips (21-10, 13-5 MAC) in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament on Thursday evening. The game will tip off at approximately 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+. On the call is Michael Reghi and Rhett Boyd. Josh Whetzel and Jon Fuller will be on the radio call. You can listen to the game on 1520 AM (Buffalo)/1280 AM (Rochester) or online with the Varsity App.

THE LAST TIME OUT
Buffalo is coming off a 68-63 win on senior night against the Miami (OH) RedHawks. Isaiah Adams led the Bulls with 16 points with senior forward LaQuill Hardnett adding 13. Zid Powell scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. At the glass, Isaac Jack had a game-high 11 rebounds, four of which on the offensive end. Armoni Foster and Powell each had four assists. Powell also had a game-high four steals.

SERIES AT A GLANCE
The matchup between the Buffalo Bulls and Akron Zips will be the 73^rd all-time meeting. Akron leads the series, 38-34. However, the Bulls are 4-3 all-time in neutral site games against the Zips. In the MAC Tournament, Buffalo is 4-2 against Akron. This will be the third meeting between the Bulls and Zips this season. Akron swept Buffalo in the regular season series. The game will be the third straight season the Bulls will play the Zips in the MAC Tournament. Buffalo won 81-74 in the 2021 semifinal with Akron taking last year's quarterfinal game, 70-68. They've also played each other in four of the last five Tournaments.

With their game on Thursday, this will mark the fifth time the Bulls and Zips have played each other three times in a season. 2009, 2015, 2016, and 2019 were the previous four times. Buffalo went 7-5 in those four seasons, including 3-1 in the third meeting of the season.

MAC TOURNAMENT MEETINGS
March 14, 2009 // MAC Championship // L, 65-53
March 13, 2015 // MAC Semifinal // W, 68-59
March 12, 2016 // MAC Championship // W, 64-61
March 14, 2019 // MAC Quarterfinal // W, 82-46
March 12, 2021 // MAC Semifinal // W, 81-74
March 10, 2022 // MAC Quarterfinal // L, 68-70

BUFFALO QUICK FACTS
• Buffalo is 8-0 on the year when shooting 50.0% or better from the floor.
• The Bulls have had six games this season with three players scoring 15 or more points.
• Jonnivius Smith recorded his seventh game of the season shooting 100% from the floor on Friday night against Miami (OH).
• Curtis Jones is 13^th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.94. In the last seven games he's had 28 assists and six turnovers.
• The Bulls are 10-4 when Curtis Jones scores 15 or more points in a game. When he scores less than 15, Buffalo is 4-12.
• Buffalo has two of the best three-point shooters in the MAC. Curtis Jones in fifth in three-pointer made (73) as Isaiah Adams is 11^th with 60.
• The Bulls are 14-3 when they have more assists than turnovers. Their three losses came to the hands of West Virginia (12/18/22) and Toledo (1/20/23 & 2/25/23).
• Buffalo is 12-1 on the season when they score at least 80 points.
• Since the 2019-20 season, Buffalo is 31-3 when they score 80 or more points in conference games.
• Under Whitesell in MAC games, the Bulls are 41-11 when they hold opponents to 79 points or less

THE LAST TIME A 6-SEED WON…
Buffalo will look to do something that hasn't been done since the 2017 season, win the MAC Tournament as the 6-seed. Kent State defeated Akron, 70-65 in the 2017 MAC Title game. Akron is the only other 6-seed to win the MAC Tournament. In 2011, the Zips beat Kent State, 66-65 in overtime.

With a win, the Bulls will play the winner of #2 Kent State and #7 Northern Illinois at 7:30 p.m. on Friday on CBS Sports.

Bulls Open MAC Tournament Against Akron on Thursday Evening

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Players Mentioned

Isaiah Adams

Armoni Foster

LaQuill Hardnett

Isaac Jack

Curtis Jones

Zid Powell

Jonnivius Smith

University at Buffalo Athletics