The Bulls have now . . .
It was a slow start for both teams as Eastern Michigan held the early 13-11 lead with 11:30 left in the first half. However, from there the Bulls got 17 straight stops on defense over the next nine and a half minutes, scoring 26 straight points.
UB hit four threes during the run as Nick Perkins and CJ Massinburg combined for 15 of the 26 points. The Bulls built their lead to 37-13 with 2:54 left and took a 39-17 lead into the break. The 17 points tied for the fewest that UB has allowed in a half this season, matching a mark at Akron.
The Bulls scored the first seven points of the second half as they built their lead all the way up to 29 following a three from Jeremy Harris, who had a monster second half. Buffalo led 46-17 when the Eagles began to make a run. A quick 9-0 burst for EMU cut it to 46-26 and the Eagles knocked their deficit down to 10 with 5:19 left. The Bulls, however, got four straight points from Harris to extend the lead to 72-58.
A big three pointer from sophomore Davonta Jordan gave UB a 75-59 advantage and the Bulls took the lead back to 18 following a jumper from Harris to give them a 79-61 advantage.
A put-back layup by Massinburg with 46 seconds remaining lifted UB to the magical 80-point number for the eighth straight game and the Bulls held on for the 83-69 victory.
Harris led the way with 22 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, tying the most for a UB player this season. He scored 20 of those points in the second half and nine of those boards in the final 20 minutes. Harris also finished with four assists and a steal.
Massinburg added 18 points and four rebounds, while Perkins had 17 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high four assists. Senior Wes Clark added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Jordan had five points, four rebounds, and four assists, while freshman Jayvon Graves finished with three points and Ikenna Smart and Dontay Caruthers each had two.
Junior guard Paul Jackson topped EMU with 20 points, followed by Tim Bond’s 13. No other Eagle reached double figures.
The Bulls, who lead the MAC in assists, added 19 more helpers to their total on 23 made baskets. Four different players ended up with four assists on the evening. The Bulls finished with a season-high 48 rebounds, holding a plus-10 advantage on the glass.
The eight-game winning streak for the Bulls is their longest since the 2014-15 season when UB won the final six regular season games and two in the MAC Tournament to advance to its first ever NCAA Tournament. The Bulls have not won nine in a row since the 2008-09 season.
UB will get its opportunity on Friday night when the Bulls head to Ohio for a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network. The game will tip at 6:30 pm. This will begin a stretch of four the next five games on the road.
Eastern Michigan will be at Miami Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET).
(Courtesy of UB Athletics)