Central Michigan @ Buffalo preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 8, 2018 ) Central Michigan 74, Buffalo 89

In danger of falling out of the national poll, No. 25 Buffalo had a week off to address its shortcomings ahead of Saturday's Mid-American Conference game against visiting Central Michigan. Poor defense and turnovers were a recipe for disaster last week as the Bulls, who have won six straight against the Chippewas, dropped their second league game this season.

A nine-point halftime lead and 54 combined points from CJ Massinburg and Dontay Caruthers weren't enough to allow Buffalo to outlast Bowling Green, which scored 53 points in the second half to secure a one-game lead over the Bulls in the MAC East Division. "It's the same things we've been talking about the last few weeks. We need to improve on our turnovers and getting stops (on defense)," coach Nate Oats told the media. "Our offense flowed, and a lot of the guys were shooting the ball well, but we have to get back on defense." The Bulls set a season high with 18 turnovers - one more than they had in a loss Jan. 22 at Northern Illinois - while matching their season low with 11 assists previously accomplished Jan. 22. Larry Austin, Jr. has recorded eight 20-point games as a member of the Chippewas, who have won back-to-back league games - including an 85-64 thrashing of Western Michigan a week ago.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT CENTRAL MICHIGAN (16-6, 5-4 MAC): Austin didn't make much of an impact in his first three college seasons at Xavier and Vanderbilt, respectively, where he scored 137 points, but has morphed into one of the MAC's top players for the Chippewas. The Springfield, Ill., native is fifth in the conference in points (17.6 per game), first in assists (5.6) and second in steals (2.2) while shooting 49.7 percent from the field. Shawn Roundtree, now in his second season at Central Michigan after transferring from Missouri State, has scored in double figures in 18 straight games for seventh-year coach Keno Davis, who has his team off to its best start through 22 games since it went 17-5 in 2014-15 en route to 23 wins.

ABOUT BUFFALO (19-3, 7-2): Caruthers has become a force on the offensive end in the last three games, including the first back-to-back 20-point games of his career. The senior from Rochester, N.Y., netted a career-high 28 points against Bowling Green and is averaging 20.3 points over the last three games while shooting 76.9 percent from the field. Massinburg notched his 26th career 20-point game in the loss to Bowling Green and has hit that mark in four of the last five games while shooting 56.1 percent for the Bulls, who have scored 88 points or more in five of the last six meetings with the Chippewas.

TIP-INS

1. Massinburg (240) stands second in career 3-pointers made for the Bulls, trailing only Mike Martinho, who sank 328 triples from 1994-1998.

2. David DiLeo is fifth in 3-pointers made (219) and attempted (587) in Central Michigan history.

3. Only Bobby Hurley (67.7 percent) has a higher winning percentage than Oats (66.4) among coaches in the top 10 in wins for the Bulls.

PREDICTION: Buffalo 94, Central Michigan 84