Buffalo @ Kent St. preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2018 ) Kent St. 61, Buffalo 78

Buffalo will find itself in unfamiliar territory Friday when it visits Kent State for a Mid-American Conference game. The No. 14 Bulls will need to rebound from a loss for only the second time this season and first time in conference play when they take on the red-hot Golden Flashes.

CJ Massinburg nearly wrestled victory from the jaws of defeat for Buffalo by scoring nine points in the final 1:19 of Tuesday's game at Northern Illinois, including a game-tying 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, but instead the Bulls lost for the first time in 12 contests when their senior scores 20 or more points. "It shouldn't have come down to that," coach Nate Oats told the media after his team failed to switch on defense, allowing a layup with two seconds remaining. "That's three games in a row now that we have not played good basketball. We need to get back to the blue collar stuff that got us to this point, like rebounding and diving for loose balls." The Bulls, who haven't dropped back-to-back games since December 2017, came up with only nine offensive rebounds, their lowest total since November, and had a season-low 11 assists against a season-high 17 turnovers. Senior Jaylin Walker has poured in 88 points over the last three games, including back-to-back 30-point contests, as the Golden Flashes have won three straight, including 87-85 in overtime Tuesday against Toledo.

TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network

ABOUT BUFFALO (17-2, 5-1 MAC): As one of the better two-point shooting teams in the country (54.9 percent), Buffalo continues to weigh itself down with poor shooting from beyond the arc. For the fourth straight game and fifth time in six MAC contests, the Bulls finished below their season average on 3-point shooting (34.2 percent). Against Northern Illinois, the poor shooting extended to other areas of the floor as the Bulls finished at 36.7 percent, their lowest number since suffering their first loss of the season Dec. 21 at Marquette, including a combined 14-of-37 showing from starters Massinburg, Jeremy Harris and Jayvon Graves.

ABOUT KENT STATE (15-4, 4-2): With four minutes gone in the second half against Toledo, Walker had 10 points and the Golden Flashes trailed by 17 points and were looking at being dealt their third loss in the conference. Instead, they caught fire, making 9-of-22 from deep - six of those from Walker, a 6-3 guard from Michigan, who scored 26 points in the second half. Mitch Peterson, Anthony Roberts, who returned from a two-game absence to score 10 points and grab seven rebounds, and Jalen Avery also contributed big 3-pointers for the Golden Flashes, who are fourth in the MAC in 3-point shooting at 36 percent.

TIP-INS

1. Massinburg (1,679 points), Walker (1,550) and Buffalo's Nick Perkins (1,513) each rank among the top 50 active career scorers in Division I.

2. Walker has scored 20 or more points only once in seven career meetings with the Bulls.

3. The Bulls and the Golden Flashes, who have dominated the series 32-17 - including 16-4 at home, have met eight times over the last three seasons, including a pair of MAC Tournament games, with each team winning four times.

PREDICTION: Kent State 84, Buffalo 81