Akron Falls to No. 18 Buffalo in MAC Tournament

Thursday, March 14

Cleveland, Ohio

NOON

University of Akron

17-16 (8-10MAC)

No. 18 Buffalo - Quarterfinals

29-3 (16-2MAC)

Akron Zips

Buffalo

March 14 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The University of Akron men's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot-shooting Buffalo (29-3) squad in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday, March 14, as the 18th-ranked Bulls registered an 82-46 victory over the Zips (17-16) at Quicken Loans Arena.

Akron will now await its fate to see if its 2018-19 body of work garners the Zips a postseason berth on Sunday, March 17 when postseason selections are unveiled.

Akron was unable to overcome its lowest shooting mark of the season as the Zips connected on 23.7 percent of its attempts from the field and four shots from beyond the arc. The Bulls capped their performance on the day shooting 44.1 percent, including connecting on eight triples.

Buffalo capitalized on a 55-36 edge in rebounds in the tilt en route to posting a 44-20 margin in points in the paint, while collecting 32 points from its bench to advance to the tournament semifinals.

The Zips were directed by a 16-point effort from sophomore Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.), while junior Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) added a double-digit effort tallying 12 points. Sophomore Jeremy Roscoe (Chicago, Ill.) led Akron with seven rebounds.

A game-high 23 points from Jeremy Harris headlined five Bulls scoring in double figures. Joining him with double-digit scoring afternoons with 13, 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively, was Jayvon Graves, Dontay Carruthers, Nick Perkins and CJ Massinburg.

The Zips started the contest coming up short on their first three shots, before a layup and made free throw by Utomi cut Buffalo's lead to 5-3 at the 17:29 mark.

A flagrant foul on the Bulls at the 16:25 mark allowed Akron to even the affair at six, before Buffalo regained the lead, 8-6, with a dunk by Montell McRae at the 15:48 mark.

Shooting proved to be a struggle for both squads to kick off the game as the sides combined to shoot 4-of-12 at the initial media timeout.

The Bulls used a 12-0 run over the next 5:36 to assume an 18-6 advantage before a lay-up by senior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) at the 10:12 mark ended a 0-for-7 shooting stretch for the Zips.

Buffalo continued its run coming out of the timeout extending its scoring surge to 22-3 before Jackson nailed a corner triple at the 6:07 mark to cut the deficit to 28-12.

After a pair of free throws by the Bulls, Jackson added another three-pointer to bring the Zips within, 15, 30-15, with 4:29 left before halftime.

Buffalo took a 38-21 lead into intermission in a first half that featured 29 combined fouls between the two teams.

The Zips connected on 16.7 (4-of-24) of their shots in the opening stanza, while the Bulls shot 44.4 percent from the field.

Jackson paced Akron in the first half with a team-high 11 points, while the Bulls were led by 12 first-half points from Harris.

Akron opened the second half with an 8-5 run, to cut their deficit to 43-29, sparked by triples from junior Channel Banks (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Jackson.

A quick 5-0 run by the Bulls pushed the margin to 48-31, before jumpers by Utomi and Ivey ended the scoring spurt.

The two teams then exchanged baskets before Buffalo scored 12 consecutive points as part of an overall 24-4 run over the next 8:46 to lead 74-39 with 5:55 remaining in the game.

Utomi capped the Zips' afternoon scoring five of the team's final seven points in the setback.