BUFFALO — The UB Bulls men’s basketball team returns to Alumni Arena on Tuesday night as they welcome the Central Michigan Chippewas to Alumni Arena.
CMU boasts the nation’s leading scorer in Marcus Keene, who is averaging 30.3 points per game. The Chippewas are the fourth highest scoring offense in the country at 89.7 points per game. The Bulls enter the contest looking to snap a two-game losing streak, both coming on one-point road losses last week.
Senior Blake Hamilton is coming off a 33-point performance on Saturday night against Akron, his second 30-point game of the year. He becomes the first UB player to have multiple 30-point games in the same season since 2014-15 when Justin Moss achieved the feat during his MAC Player of the Year season.
While Central Michigan has used the same starting lineup for all 21 games this season, it has been a rotating cast for the Bulls who used their 10th different starting lineup on Saturday night at Akron. In all, 10 different UB players have started at least one game for UB and nobody has started more than 18 games. Sophomore CJ Massinburg has started eight straight games, which is the longest current streak among UB players.
Central Michigan will bring one of the most dynamic offenses in the nation to Alumni Arena on Tuesday night and a 14-7 record and 4-4 MAC mark following a 105-98 win in overtime at Kent State on Saturday. After dropping their first three MAC games, the Chippewas have now won four of their last five, including three in a row.
Central Michigan boasts the nation’s leading scorer, who is averaging 30.3 points per game, looking to become the first D-I player to average 30 points for a season in over two decades. Keene had 41 points in the overtime win at Kent State, including 11 points in overtime alone. He had a national season high for points on Jan. 21 against Miami when Keene scored 50 points against the RedHawks, including a stretch where he scored 26 straight points for CMU. He has take 437 shots, 209 three-pointers, while also getting to the free throw line 180 times. Keene also leads the team with 109 assists.
The Chippewas also have Braylon Rayson, a standout from a season ago, that is averaging 20.0 points per game as he is shooting .371 from the floor and .821 from the free throw line. David DiLeo is averaging 10.1 points to round out the double-figure scorers.
Keno Davis was named head coach at Central Michigan on April 3, 2012. Davis brought four years of Division I head coaching experience, and in 2008 was named the coach of the year by six national organizations. In one season at Drake and three at Providence, Davis compiled a 74-55 (.574) record and made two postseason appearances.
Buffalo will be holding Bulls Jam as a promotion to get the student body involved for the game, including:
- Free UB True Blue Squad Tank Tops to the first 700 students (courtesy of UB Campus Living)
- Free Wings for students (while supplies last)
- UB Students check-into the UB Rewards App for a chance to win a Mini Basketball Hoop and a copy of the movie Space Jam
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
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