Buffalo Bulls Men's Basketball Recap: Mediocre second half isn't enough to take down Akron in 80-70 loss

On Tuesday, the Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team travelled to Akron to take on the current number one zips. Akron seems to be the only team this season that can separate itself from the rest of the pack as the battle for the top-four seed continues to heat up. Buffalo came into this game on a two game losing skid after dropping back to back home games to Toledo and Ohio. This didn't go UB's way this time around as they lost another one by an 80-70 margin.

Much of the first half seemed promising for the Bulls. CJ Massinburg playing well along with Willie Conner. They had 12 and 7 points by the end of the half respectively. Every Bull that played in this game also scored before the half as Buffalo shot over 50% from the floor. It was looking like Buffalo could very well upset the Zips as they were outplaying them for most of the half. Twenty minutes in, UB held a three point lead with the score at 36-33.

The second half wasn't the kind of half you need to be able to upset the Zips unfortunately. Buffalo shot a measly 34.5% from the floor as Massinburg and Kadiri were the only ones who could get any shots to fall. The Bulls started fouling more and put Akron in the bonus with over eight minutes left in the game. To top it all off, turnovers were also a huge problem in the second half. Buffalo turned the ball over ten times. With about four minutes left, Noah Robotham made a three pointer that pretty much sealed the Bulls' fate.

CJ "Buckets" Massinburg had another commanding effort after flirting with a double-double on the night. The freshman finished the night with an impressive 21 points and 7 rebounds. David Kadiri and Willie Conner also had impressive nights. They finished with 10 and 9 points respectively. Kadiri seems to only be getting better as the season progresses.

With this loss, Buffalo sits at 7-6 in MAC play and only two games above .500. Ironically, this is the same exact place where sat in their MAC Championship run this season. All hope is not lost and the test of the true fan starts here.

We see the Bulls next this Saturday when they meet with Bowling Green at Alumni Arena. We'll be seeing some mid-day basketball as tip-off is set for noon. Unlike the Akron game, this one will be televised on ESPN3.

Go Bulls.