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No. 18 Buffalo takes on Akron in the first quarterfinal of the 2019 MAC Tournament on Thursday.
The game is scheduled to start at Noon ET. While it won’t be broadcast nationally on television anywhere in the US, you can still watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone, or streaming device via ESPN+, the new digital streaming service from ESPN (no cable required) that has exclusive coverage to dozens of college basketball games — and several other sports — every week.
You can start a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other compatible streaming device via the ESPN app.
If you can’t watch live, all games — including Buffalo vs Akron— that are streamed on ESPN+ are also available to be watched afterwards on-demand via ESPN.com or the ESPN app.
Buffalo vs. Akron Preview
Bubble teams around the country should be rooting hard for Buffalo.
No matter what happens here, the Bulls are going dancing. They’re 28-3 overall, 2-1 in Quadrant 1 games and 5-1 in Quadrant 2 contests. They are 16th in the NET rankings, 25th in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings and 26th in the Sagarin rankings. The only thing they’re fighting for at this point is a better seed.
That means that if Buffalo loses, the MAC suddenly becomes a two-bid league. And that means there’s one less bubble spot to go around.
Fortunately for the bubble-dwellers, they shouldn’t have to sweat too much in this one. Buffalo won both games against Akron this season, and they’re favored by nine here.
If Akron is going to pull off the upset, they’ll need to find a solution to the problem that is CJ Massinburg.
The freshly-named MAC player of the year is averaging 18.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per contest in his senior year. In the two games against the Zips, he scored a total of 44 points on just 17 field-goal attempts thanks to elite efficiency from beyond the arc (5-of-8) and a relentless ability to get to the free-throw line (19-of-23).
In nine career games against Akron, Massinburg has scored in double-figures eight times, with the lone exception being the very first meeting when he was a freshman coming off the bench. Overall, he’s averaging 19.0 points on 53.5 percent shooting and 8.9 rebounds vs. the Zips. Win or lose, Akron will be happy to wave goodbye to Massinburg.
Still, while Akron is certainly the underdog, there is some reason for optimism. In the first matchup between these teams on February 12, the Zips hung around for most of the game before losing by only six. In the second matchup two weeks later, they led by one at halftime and were up two at the under-eight timeout, but they simply ran out of gas against the up-tempo Bulls, eventually losing by 13.
“They just keep coming for 40 minutes,” Akron head coach John Groce said after that one. “That’s probably the best compliment I can give them. You’ve got to play for 40 minutes. They don’t let their foot off the gas.”
Akron has shown they can hang with the MAC’s top team. If they want their season to keep going, they’ll need to prove they can finish the job.
Whoever advances will face the winner of Central Michigan and Kent State on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET.