Akron Earns 101-77 Triumph over Buffalo in MAC Tournament Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 9

Cleveland, Ohio

Approx. 6:30 PM

University of Akron

22-10,13-5MAC

101

Buffalo

15-17,9-9MAC

Buffalo

Akron

101

Akron Earns 101-77 Triumph over Buffalo in MAC Tournament Quarterfinals

March 09 | Men's Basketball

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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The third-seeded University of Akron men's basketball team jumped out to an early lead and didn't look back dispatching of sixth-seeded Buffalo, 101-77, in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Thursday evening.

Akron's 101-point performance represents a single-game program record for points scored in a MAC Tournament tilt.

By virtue of its third triumph of the season past the Bulls, the Zips advance to battle rival Kent State in the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament on Friday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Senior Xavier Castaneda (Chicago, Ill.) scored a game-high and Akron MAC Tournament record 31 points, while junior Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio), junior Sammy Hunter (Nassau, Bahamas) and graduate student Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich.) added 19-, 13- and 13-point performances for the Zips.

Akron finished the contest shooting 59 percent from the field, including making 13 three pointers, while holding Buffalo to a 37.1 percent shooting mark in the second half en route to a 24-point victory.

Yazid Powell paced four Bulls scoring in double figures with a 25-point performance.

The Zips opened the game on an 11-4 run through the first media timeout led by eight points from Freeman.

After Buffalo cut its deficit to two, 13-11, at the 13:21 mark, Akron went on an 11-2 run to extend its margin to nine, 22-13, following a layup by Freeman with 10:15 left in the half.

Following a basket by the Bulls, the Zips went on a 15-4 run over the next 4:45 to stretch their lead to 37-19 after a three pointer by Hankerson at the 4:51 mark. Hankerson connected on a pair of triples in the run.

Akron stretched its lead to as many as 18, 45-27, with 1:40 left before halftime before going into the break holding 45-31 margin.

The Zips shot 48.4 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, including four three pointers, while Buffalo connected at a .419 clip in the first half.

Akron continued its offensive execution in the second connecting on 70 percent of their shots to stretch its margin to as many as 30 points before exiting with the Zips fourth straight tournament victory

UP NEXT
The third-seeded Zips (22-10) return to action on Friday, March 10, as Akron battles second-seeded Kent State (26-6) in the semifinal round of the MAC Men's Basketball Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The tilt will begin at 7:30 p.m. and air on CBS Sports Network.