Mid-American foes will collide when the Kent State Golden Flashes (10-4) play the Buffalo Bulls (7-7) at Memorial A & C Center. Action begins at 6:30 pm ET on Friday, Jan. 8.
The Golden Flashes enter this game hoping for similar success after edging Western Michigan 87-84 on Tuesday. Jimmy Hall was the team’s leading scorer with 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting. The Bulls, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after their 75-71 loss against Akron on Tuesday. Willie Conner had a team-high 16 points.
Kent State is a seven-point favorite against Buffalo and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at 150 points. Despite being 10-4 Straight Up (SU), the Golden Flashes have struggled to cover the spread in most of their matchups, only managing a record of 4-6 Against The Spread (ATS). Expect to see a lot of second-chance opportunities for Kent State in this matchup, which is one of the top rebounding teams in the nation with an average of 13.3 offensive boards per game.
Over on the other bench, the Bulls have records of 4-6-2 ATS and 7-7 SU.
This game marks the season’s first head-to-head clash between these conference foes. Their previous game was a Bulls victory, bringing the head-to-head record to an even 5-5 SU over their most recent meetings. The Bulls lead the matchup ATS with a record of 6-4. Buffalo held the edge in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers twice, while Kent State was never able to do so in their most recent five games.
Predictions: SU Winner – KentSt, ATS Winner – KentSt, O/U – Over
Notes
Kent State is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games.
Kent State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Kent State is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Buffalo.
Kent State is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Buffalo.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Kent State’s last 9 games when playing at home against Buffalo.
Kent State is a perfect 1-0 SU against the conference, while winless Buffalo has languished at 0-1 SU.
Ranked 51st, the Kent State Golden Flashes have an offensive rating of 112.7. The Buffalo Bulls rank 210th with a defensive rating of just 103.6.
Kent State has an average field goal percentage of 45.8%. Buffalo is a losing 1-4 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Kent State Golden Flashes rank higher based on their field goal percentage (91st) than their effective field goal percentage (164th). The Buffalo Bulls rank higher based on their effective field goal percentage (267th) than their field goal percentage (272nd).
Kent State ranks 53rd in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.31. Buffalo is ranked lower at 240th with an A/TO of .95.
Kent State ranks 48th in offensive rebounding. Buffalo ranks 157th in defensive rebounding.
The Buffalo Bulls make an average of 7.4 steals per game. When the Kent State Golden Flashes give up 7 or more steals, they are a winning 3-1.
