 Photo: Nate Thompson
Buffalo (17-5, 9-1 MAC) at Ball State (10-12, 5-5 MAC)
2 p.m. • Buffalo leads series 10-6
• Buffalo is coming off a 58-49 win at Eastern Michigan on Thursday...At 17-5, the Bulls are off to their best start in Division I history. Their 9-1 start in MAC play is their best start since joining the conference in 1998...The Bulls are looking to extend their winning streak to 10 games - it would be its longest since the 1964-65 season....UB has held three of their last four opponents to under 50 points... The Cardinals have dropped three straight and are 1-4 this season against foes from the MAC East Division... Freshman forward Jarrod Jones leads the Cardinals in scoring at 10.7 points per game and in rebounding at 7.3 boards per contesr. Jones has scored 235 points this season, which is the 10th highest total for a Ball State freshman in program history... Ball State is averaging 60.8 points per game during its 10 wins compared to 54.1 points per game in its 12 losses. Also, the Cardinals’ defense holds opponents to 52.9 points per game in the victories and 65.2 points per game in the losses.
Akron (16-8, 7-3 MAC) at Northern Illinois (6-16, 2-8 MAC)
3 p.m. • Akron leads series 17-7
• Akron travels to DeKalb, Ill., to face off against Northern Illinois on Sunday...The Zips, who hav ewon seven straight and eight of their last nine games, come off a 63-55 victory over Ball State at home on Wednesday. Akron has notched double-digit victories in three of its last four outings and looks for a sweep of MAC West Division opponents this season... UA’s seven-game win streak is the program’s longest since it posted nine in a row midway through the 2006-07 campaign (Jan. 11-Feb. 7, 2007)... The Zips’ scoring offense (67.3 ppg) and scoring defense (58.5 ppg) both rank second in the MAC. The defensive number also ranks 11th nationally. The squad’s +8.8 scoring margin is listed first in the league and 45th in the nation. On the road, Akron allows 61.0 ppg and averages 66.8 ppg... The Huskies have lost six-straight games, including five-consecutive setbacks against East Division foes. NIU nearly handed MAC-East preseason favorite Kent State its first loss against a West Division team on Tuesday night, but fell in a heartbreaking 86-83 double-overtime decision... Northern Illinois will be seeking just its fourth win against a MAC-East foe since capturing the 2005-06 West Division championship.
Eastern Michigan (3-21, 1-9 MAC) at Bowling Green (14-9, 7-3 MAC)
7 p.m. • Bowling Green leads series 43-37
• Bowling Green will look to complete an unbeaten run through the Mid-American Conference West Division with a home game against Eastern Michigan Sunday. BG is 8-2 at home this year, while Eastern Michigan is 0-11 on the road...Bowling Green’s defense has keyed the Falcons’ win streak. The team has held opponents to 57.7 points per game and just 39 percent shooting during the stretch. As well, BG has cleaned up the boards, outrebounding opponents by 4.0 per contest, and is shooting 73 percent from the free-throw line... EMU sophomore Brandon Bowdry is the key to Eastern Michigan as he ranks fifth in the MAC in scoring (15.1 points per game) and sixth in rebounding (6.9 boards per game), while shooting a respectable 46.4 percent from the field. Ten different players have started at least four games for the Eagles. |
