Buffalo at Ball State, 9:00 PM Eastern, ESPNU
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The Akron Zips are dominating the Mid-American Conference so far this season, sitting at a perfect 9-0 in league play and holding a 3 game lead in the overall conference standings (4 games in the East Division, though division standings are ignored in seeding the conference tournament). As far as the rest of the MAC, 10 of the remaining 11 teams are within three games of each other in the battles for 2nd through 11th places, meaning that we could have a ton of fun competition down the stretch as teams try to grab a top four seed (which would avoid a first round game) or at least grab seeds 5-8 (which would provide a home game in the first round before the tournament heads to Cleveland starting with the quarterfinals). Tonight, the team currently holding sole possession of second place overall and first place in the West Division, Ball State, hosts Buffalo in our Under the Radar Game of the Day.
Ball State enters play tonight at 15-7 overall and 6-3 in MAC play. The Cardinals are one of the MAC’s hottest teams, having won 6 of their last 7 games after starting conference play 0-2. They were able to pull out an 81-80 home win over Toledo on Tuesday night, thanks to 26 points and 8 assists from Tayler Persons, plus 19 points and 9 rebounds from Franko House. Buffalo sits at 10-12 overall and 4-5 in league play. The Bulls gave conference leader Akron one of their biggest scares of the season last weekend, losing 91-90 at Akron. Blake Hamilton led the way for the Bulls in that loss with 33 points, though three other players also scored in double-digits including 19 from Willie Conner. Ball State needs to make certain they do not overlook this Buffalo team tonight, especially with the Cardinals facing a road trip to Akron early next week, and their chance to de-throne the current kings of the MAC.