Buffalo @ Akron preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2018 ) Akron 68, Buffalo 80

In addition to being the focus of the opposition's defense, CJ Massinburg is now having to deal with an injury for No. 24 Buffalo, which kicks off a two-game road swing Tuesday with a Mid-American Conference game at Akron. Massinburg overcame a shoulder injury to help the Bulls, who can win their third straight over the Zips, extend their homecourt winning streak to 22 Saturday against Central Michigan.

It wasn't pretty in the first half for the Bulls as Massinburg was held scoreless and fellow senior Nick Perkins was on the bench because of a violation of team rules. Nate Oats' team, which is back into a tie for first place in the MAC East Division by virtue of Bowling Green's loss to Toledo, trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half before a pair of runs, the first aided greatly by Jeremy Harris, allowed the Bulls to avoid a second straight defeat. "CJ had to get comfortable playing with his shoulder and once he realized he could play with it and saw the first three go in, it got him going," Oats told the media. "After the initial charge by them (Central Michigan) we got back to playing that blue collar brand of basketball that has won us a lot of games this year." Daniel Utomi stayed hot from 3-point territory, where he has made 12 of his last 23 attempts, as the Zips pummeled Kent State on Friday to win for the fourth time in their last five games.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT BUFFALO (20-3, 8-2 MAC): Perkins started the second half against Central Michigan and played all but one minute before finishing with 10 points and six rebounds. The native of Ypsilanti, Mich., has been in a slump since averaging 17 points over eight games between Dec. 29 and Jan. 25, scoring a total of 23 points in the last three games. Perkins, who has six 20-point game this season - all in Buffalo wins, survived the cutdown to 10 candidates for the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Center of the Year Award, joining the likes of Georgetown's Jessie Govan, UCLA's Moses Brown and Wisconsin's Ethan Happ.

ABOUT AKRON (14-9, 6-4): Utomi hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points against Kent State to move to within two points of becoming the 45th member of Akron's 1,000-point club. The senior from Houston, who is second in the MAC in 3-pointers made (65), first in 3-pointers attempted (176) and 20th in 3-point shooting (36.9 percent), would join teammate Jimond Ivey as current Zips with more than 1,000 points. Ivey, whose 1,173 career points are good for 27th in school history, has failed to reach double figures in the last two games after doing so in in five straight and 10 of the last 11 contests for the Zips, who have won seven straight at home.

TIP-INS

1. Buffalo's 22-game home win streak is tied for the second longest in the nation with No. 1 Tennessee and trails only No. 9 Houston's 31-game streak.

2. Over the last 15 seasons, the Zips have posted a 198-31 record at James A. Rhodes Arena, including 23-5 under coach John Groce.

3. Dontay Caruthers pushed his streak of games scoring in double figures to four straight and the senior is averaging 19.3 points over the span for Buffalo.

PREDICTION: Buffalo 82, Akron 77