KENT, Ohio – The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team ended Tuesday night’s game on a 23-5 run as the Bulls picked up their seventh straight victory over Kent State, 82-69. The win was also Buffalo’s fourth straight at the M.A.C Center, the first MAC team to do that since Ohio (1991-95). The victory improves UB’s record to 8-10 and 2-3 in league play.
The game was a series of runs as the two teams each held the lead for nearly half of the night. Buffalo opened the evening by scoring the first 10 points of the game, but the Golden Flashes responded by going on a 23-6 to take a 23-16 lead. A 10-2 run by the Bulls then put them back up and a fast-break layup by redshirt sophomore Dontay Caruthers pulled the Bulls back ahead 36-32 with 3:33 left. UB went on to take a 40-37 lead into the break.
The Golden Flashes opened the second half on a 12-2 run as Kent State went up 49-42 and they continued to lead by seven at 51-44 when UB rattled off eight straight points as a jumper from sophomore Nick Perkins put the Bulls back ahead.
Kent State went back up by five, 64-59, with 8:44 left, but the UB defense buckled down, allowing just five points the rest of the night. It began with a 12-0 run over four minutes, fueled by the play of sophomore Nikola Rackicevic, who had half of UB’s points during the run.
The Golden Flashes cut back within 71-67, but then UB went on a 9-1 run as a layup from Nick Perkins put the Bulls ahead 80-68 with just 2:20 left. Buffalo took its largest lead of the night with just 36 seconds left on a jumper by CJ Massinburg, giving the Bulls an 82-69 lead, which was the final margin of victory.
Massinburg led the Bulls with a season-high 22 points, while he also had team highs of nine rebounds and four assists. Perkins had 17 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Rackicevic tied his career high with 14 points as he went 6-of-11 from the floor with three rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Caruthers had a career-high 11 points, while also finishing with a career-best five steals, the most in a game by a UB player this season.
Blake Hamilton added nine points and six rebounds despite playing just 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
The Bulls shot just under 50% for the game, but were extremely efficient from inside the arc in the second half as they shot 17-of-23 from two-point range.
Kent State lost for the fourth straight time as the Golden Flashes fell to 1-4 in league play. Jimmy Hall led the Golden Flashes with 24 points and 16 rebounds.
The Bulls will return home on Saturday afternoon when they host Western Michigan at Alumni Arena. Tipoff is at 2:30 pm and it will be part of a doubleheader with the UB women, who tip at Noon.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
