#25 Buffalo @ Toledo

What will be the GAME RESULT?

#25 Buffalo Bulls (21-3)

@ Toledo Rockets (20-4)

Current odds:

Buffalo Bulls: (-175)

Toledo Rockets: (+155)

• The line for this game is Buffalo by 3.5 points.

• A win for No. 24 Buffalo on Friday at Toledo probably won’t come as easy as when the teams played their first Mid-American Conference game in early January. The Bulls led by 13 at halftime before scoring 65 points, their highest total in any half this season, against the Rockets, who have gone 8-1 since and are riding a five-game winning streak. Jeremy Harris took over the first meeting by scoring a career-high 34 points and the senior carried that over into the next two games by scoring 37 combined points before going into a bit of a funk on the offensive end. The 6-7 guard from Greensboro, N.C., who has averaged 16.7 points and seven rebounds in three career matchups against Toledo, has hit double figures only twice in the last seven games while shooting below 36 percent in six of those contests. “Their ball pressure frustrated us, took us out of any offensive rhythm, and we turned it over which led to transition baskets for them,” Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk told the media of the first meeting, which saw the Bulls set a school record for points in a MAC game in the 110-80 victory.

• The Rockets, who are 0-4 against ranked teams at Savage Arena, including a loss to Wally Szczerbiak and No. 25 Miami (Ohio) in their most recent attempt in 1999, helped the Bulls out by knocking off MAC East Division leader Bowling Green on Saturday behind the play of senior guard Chris Darrington, who put up 20 points in 20 minutes.

• CJ Massinburg is firing on all cylinders heading down the homestretch, which he and the Bulls hope will end with a fourth MAC Tournament title in the last five seasons – something that has never been done in league history. The senior has scored 20 or more points in five of the last seven games while increasing to 20 his streak of consecutive games in double figures. Massinburg has made 10 of his last 17 attempts from beyond the arc to move into third in the league in 3-point shooting at 42.9 percent, right behind Toledo’s Nate Navigato (46.4), who holds the school record with 288 career treys.

• Solid play from Marreon Jackson and Luke Knapke have helped the Rockets to go from an 0-2 start in league play to taking a commanding three-game lead in the MAC West Division. Knapke, a 6-11 center who is third on Toledo’s all-time blocks list (120), is second on the team in scoring in league games at 12.8 points per game and is shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point land, good for fourth in the conference. Starting with 20 points in the first meeting against Buffalo, Jackson had a streak of eight straight games in double figures and the sophomore averaged 5.1 assists over that span.

• Over the last five seasons, Buffalo and Toledo are 1-2 among MAC schools in overall wins (126 to 124) and conference wins (70 to 63).

• The Bulls have won three straight meetings against the Rockets, including twice scoring more than 100 points, to slice their deficit to 15-12 in the series.

• Toledo is 19-0 when holding opponents to less than 45.6 percent shooting, something it hasn’t been able to do in the last three games against the Bulls.