Nick Perkins scored 22 points and grabbed six rebounds and No. 19 Buffalo set a new school single-season record with its 28th victory by defeating visiting Bowling Green 84-73 on Friday.
The Bulls (28-3, 16-2 MAC) had already clinched the top seed in the Mid-American Conference tournament. They also extended their home winning streak to 26 games.
CJ Massinburg had 15 points and six rebounds, and Jeremy Harris contributed 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and five steals. Davonta Jordan added 10 points off the bench while Dontay Caruthers supplied seven points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
Justin Turner paced the Falcons (20-11, 12-6) with 17 points. Antwon Lillard had 12 points and Michael Laster added 10.
The Bulls scored the first eight points and never trailed. Caruthers racked up five assists in the first 4:20.
Jordan's layup with 14:24 left in the half gave Buffalo its first double-digit lead. Jordan had another inside bucket eight minutes into the contest to make it 26-11.
A Caruthers dunk with 5:28 remaining in the half nudged the Bulls' advantage to 19.
Caruthers made a free throw with 2:55 left and Buffalo went scoreless the rest of the half. Bowling Green scored the last five points before the break to pull within 43-30.
The Falcons also scored the first five points of the second half, including a Dylan Frye 3-pointer, to cut Buffalo's lead to single digits.
The Bulls extended the advantage to 14 before Bowling Green reeled off 13 straight points to pull within 55-54 with 12:07 to play. Lillard scored the first five points of that outburst and also finished it with a layup.
Perkins finally answered with five points to give Buffalo a 60-54 lead. Harris made a jumper with eight minutes remaining to get the Bulls' lead back into double digits.
When Massinburg knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:41 left, Buffalo's lead was up to 14 at 77-63. The Falcons were unable to muster another rally.
--Field Level Media
Bowling Green | Buffalo | |
Justin Turner 17 | Scoring | Nick Perkins 22 |
Michael Laster 4 | Assists | Dontay Caruthers 8 |
Demajeo Wiggins 8 | Rebounds | Dontay Caruthers 6 |
Antwon Lillard 4 | Free Throws Made | Montell McRae 3 |
Daeqwon Plowden 2 | Steals | Jeremy Harris 5 |
Daeqwon Plowden 1 | Blocks | Montell McRae 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Bowling Green | 73 | 46.3 | 6-22 | 17-23 | 10 | 36 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
Buffalo | 84 | 45.2 | 5-26 | 13-20 | 20 | 38 | 1 | 12 | 8 |