BUFFALO — The Bulls come back to Alumni Arena on Tuesday night as they host Northern Illinois. Buffalo is looking to win three in a row for the first time this year and is also looking to continue their dominance over Northern Illinois as Buffalo has won the last 11 meetings between the two schools, the fourth longest active streak in the Mid-American Conference.
Senior Blake Hamilton was named the MAC East Player of the Week as has been unbelievable for the Bulls over the last three games as he is averaging 28.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in games against Akron, Central Michigan, and Ball State. Hamilton had 33 points at Akron and he has scored at least 25 points in all three games. Hamilton has also been dishing the ball well lately as he has eight assists in each of the last two games.
The Bulls have recorded 90 or more points in three straight games for the first time since 1994-95 and just fourth time in 100 seasons of UB men’s basketball. On Tuesday night, Buffalo will look to record 90 or more points in four straight games for the first time in program history.
Northern Illinois is 14-9 on the season and tied for the MAC West lead at 6-4 following an 81-69 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. The Huskies have lost three of their last five games after a stretch of winning four straight earlier in conference play.
The Huskies have just one player averaging in double figures, but have six players averaging at least 7.9 points per game. Marin Maric leads the Huskies in scoring at 13.6 points per game and rebounding at 7.6 boards per contest. Aaric Armstead, who is one of four NIU players to have started all 23 games this year, is second on the team at 9.7 points per game. Jaylen Key chips in 8.8 points per game.
Northern Illinois has had success on the road in conference play so far as the Huskies have gone 3-1 away from the Convocation Center, including wins at Kent State, Bowling Green, and Toledo. The Huskies have used the same starting give in all 10 of their MAC games to date.
On March 24, 2011, Mark Montgomery was introduced as the 27th head coach in the history of the NIU men’s basketball program. In 2016-17, Montgomery enters his sixth season at NIU following 10 years at his alma mater, Michigan State University, six as an assistant coach and the last four as associate head coach. In 2015-16, Montgomery guided NIU to 21 victories, tied for the second-most in school history, while taking the Huskies to the postseason for just the fourth time in school history, and the first time in 20 years, as NIU accepted an invitation to the Vegas 16.
With their 96-69 win over Ball State on Friday, the Bulls have now scored 90 or more points in three straight games, following 101 points against Central Michigan and 90 points against Akron. This is just the fourth time in school history that the Bulls have scored at least 90 points in three straight games and the first time since 1994-95. UB also accomplished it during the 1969-70 season and the 1989-90 season. No Buffalo has ever scored 90 or more points in four straight games.
The Bulls recorded 101 points on Tuesday night in their victory over Central Michigan, their highest scoring output ever against a Mid-American Conference team in regulation. The Bulls scored 107 points in a double overtime loss to Kent State in 2006 and between 2006-17 the Bulls twice put up over 100 points against non Division I opponents.
The last time that UB put up 100 points in a regulation game against a D-I opponent was Nov. 21, 2001 when they scored 100 points at Chicago State. Since turning Division I in 1991-92, Tuesday night was the fourth time that the Bulls have scored at least 100 points against a fellow D-I opponent in regulation.
Sophomore CJ Massinburg became the third different UB player to record a double-double on the season Saturday when he had a season-high 18 points and a career-best 10 rebounds in the win over Eastern Michigan. It was the first career double-double for the Dallas, TX native. Massinburg joins Blake Hamilton who had 19 points and 11 rebounds against Canisius and sophomore Nick Perkins, who has recorded a pair of double-doubles, including 18 points and 10 rebounds against Weber State and 10 points and 11 rebounds against Robert Morris. Last season, UB had three players all year record double-doubles, led by five from Hamilton.
Against Ohio, Massinburg recorded his second straight double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Hamilton also had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. It is the first time this year that UB has had two players with a double-double in the same match and also the first time this season that a Buffalo player recorded a double-double in consecutive games. Senior David Kadiri joined the double-double party against Ball State as he recorded career highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Hamilton and Perkins each picked up their third double-double of the season against Western Michigan as Perkins had 21 points and 10 boards of the bench and Hamilton, who just missed out on the second triple-double in school history, had 15 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. In his first home game since the near triple-double, Hamilton repeated the feat, falling just shy again with 27 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. The four different players with double-doubles are the most in a season since 2014-15 when Justin Moss, Xavier Ford, Shannon Evans, and Rodell Wigginton all recorded double-doubles thats year.
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