The Buffalo Bulls will play the Akron Zips in the Quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament on Thursday night at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
Buffalo Preview
The Buffalo Bulls are 15-16 (9-9) this season after they defeated Miami-OH by a score of 68-63 in their last game. Buffalo shot 39% from the field and was +15 in rebounding margin in the win. The Buffalo Bulls are averaging 77.5 points per game, 76.9 points against per game, 37.9 rebounds per game, and 15 assists per game. Curtis Jones has led the Bulls this season with 15.1 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, and 3.0 assists per game. Buffalo is shooting 45.5% from the field, 70.2% on free throws, and 32.4% on three pointers this year.
Akron Preview
The Akron Zips are 21-10 (13-5) this season after they lost to Kent State in overtime by a score of 89-84 in their last game. Akron shot 43.9% from the field and was -8 in rebounding margin in the loss. The Akron Zips are averaging 73.8 points per game, 66.2 points against per game, 35.5 rebounds per game, and 13.4 assists per game. Xavier Castaneda has led the Zips this season with 21.4 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game, and 2.9 assists per game. Akron is shooting 43.9% from the field, 73.1% on free throws, and 35.1% on three pointers this year.
Trends
Buffalo is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a win. The under is 4-1 in Buffalo’s last 5 neutral site games. Akron is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 Thursday games and 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games following a loss. The over is 4-1 in Akron’s last 5 games. The underdog is 11-5 ATS in these two teams last 16 head to head meetings.
Pick
Akron finished third in the regular season MAC standings and defeated Buffalo in both meetings earlier this season. Buffalo was tied for 6th in the standings, but they did win three of their last four games. Buffalo played very little defense this season, allowing 76.9 points against per game. Buffalo is the better offensive team and I think we are going to see a shootout in this game. I like the over here.