 in matching No. 5 Tennessee for the nation's second-longest home winning streak and before the largest crowd in school history.The announced attendance was 6,688. No. 9 Houston has won 32 straight home games.Buffalo moved into sole possession of first place in the East Division following Bowling Green's loss to Ohio. And the win also clinched the Bulls a bye into the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament next month as they can't finish lower than second in the East.Antonio Williams scored 17 before fouling out to lead Kent State (19-8, 8-6), which lost consecutive games for the first time since a four-game losing streak in February 2018. Jaylin Walker scored 12 to up his career total to 1,692 and move into third place on the school list, ahead of Jimmy Hall (1,683).Buffalo started slow while coming off a 114-67 rout of Ohio on Tuesday. The Bulls followed a game in which they set a school record by hitting 19 3-point baskets by missing their first eight against Kent State.Trailing 27-25, Buffalo erupted to score 10 consecutive points - eight from Perkins - over the final 75 seconds of the first half in what was an electrifying eruption.The run began with Perkins hitting a 3-point basket.Following Anthony Roberts missing an outside jumper at the other end, Perkins grabbed the rebound to put back Davonta Jordan missing a 3-point attempt. After Walker turned over the inbounds pass, Massinburg missed a 3-point attempt, which Jayvon Graves put in with a thundering dunk to get the crowd on its feet with 16 seconds left.The crowd was still standing when Jalen Avery committed an offensive foul, and the Bulls ran the floor with Jordan driving the baseline before feeding Perkins, who banked in a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.Graves then hit a pull-up 3-point basket on the transition after Akiean Frederick's turnover to put Buffalo up 40-29, and the Golden Flashes never got within single digits over the final 18:11.SECOND- THIRD- FOURTH-CHANCEThe Golden Flashes were so worn down by Buffalo's relentless attack that they allowed the Bulls to rebound three consecutive misses before scoring.Perkins missed from the outside. Then It was Jordan's turn followed by Jeremy Harris. Jordan corralled the final rebound and hit a layup while being fouled and then completing the three-point play to put Buffalo up 55-39 with 12:06 remaining.BIG PICTUREKent State: Walker is showing signs of slumping despite beginning the day ranked 23rd in the nation in averaging 21.8 points. He's now combined to score just 41 points while hitting just 9 of 41 from the field, including 2 of 15 from 3-point range.Buffalo: Beginning to erase whatever doubts Bulls raised during a 2-2 stretch that ended with a 92-88 loss at Bowling Green. If the Bulls were unhappy by winning two last week and not moving in the rankings, they should expect some reward from the voters once the next poll comes out.UP NEXTKent State: Host Ohio on Tuesday.Buffalo: Close three-game homestand against Akron on Tuesday.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/-Top25)
Feb 21, 2019Buffalo broke some scoring records in its last game. What it hasn't been able to do is break away from Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference East Division.The 25th-ranked Bulls (23-3 overall, 11-2 MAC) are tied with the Falcons in the conference standings. Buffalo will try to at least keep pace with Bowling Green when it hosts Kent State on Friday. The Falcons will play at Ohio.Buffalo set a program record for points against a Division I opponent by thumping Ohio 114-67 on at home Tuesday. It set another program record by making 19 3-pointers.Barring a late collapse, the Bulls will make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team even if they don't win the MAC tournament. Their game against the Golden Flashes is one of five remaining regular-season contests."Our next 2 1/2 weeks is a huge stretch for us," coach Nate Oats told the Buffalo News after beating the Bobcats. "We're going to show people we're worthy of maybe a 6 or a 5 (seed). At one point, people had us as a 5 seed or a 6 seed. At one point we were 14th in the polls as a 4 seed. If we're going to get back into those conversations, we're going to have to have multiple wins like this. Not just one." The Bulls have won four straight, but their previous two victories were by six points apiece, at Akron and Toledo."People are noticing our wins and what's supposed to be a dominating win, and we're escaping by six or four points," senior guard CJ Massinburg told the News. "The committee is looking at that type of stuff. So we're trying to take it possession by possession, and give a max effort. We can show the world we can get a very convincing win. What we've been doing hasn't been working. We didn't move at all in the AP rankings." Sophomore guard Jayvon Graves erupted for a career-high 26 points, including seven 3-pointers, against Ohio after scoring a combined 25 points in the Bulls' previous four outings."I was struggling the last few games," Graves said. "I had to get comfortable playing the game." Kent State gave Buffalo a tough battle in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 25 in Kent, Ohio. The Golden Flashes trailed by just three points with under three minutes to play before the Bulls finished the game with a 10-4 spurt to capture an 88-79 win.Kent State (19-7, 8-5) holds the third spot in the MAC East. It lost at Central Michigan 84-74 on Tuesday, getting outscored by 15 points in the last 8:33."Obviously a disappointing loss," coach Rob Senderoff told the Kent Record-Courier. "Give Central Michigan credit, they made plays down the stretch on both ends of the floor. We've got to bounce back from this quickly." Senior point guard Jalen Avery has missed the last three games with an ankle sprain, and his absence has disrupted the offense. Kent State is hopeful he can return for Friday's game.Avery is the team's second-leading scorer (11.9) behind another senior guard, Jaylin Walker, who averages 21.8 points per game. Walker scored 21 against the Bulls in the first meeting but has been held below the 20-point mark in four of the six games since.--Field Level Media
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