Buffalo 89, Central Michigan 84: Chippewas defeated by Bulls in MAC Championship Game
CLEVELAND -- Chris Fowler did everything he could to help the Central Michigan University men's basketball team win a Mid-American Conference Championship.
But a balanced University at Buffalo scoring attack and a few missed 3-pointers handed the Chippewas an 89-84 loss in the MAC Tournament Championship Game on Saturday in Quicken Loans Arena.
Fowler scored 27 points, and kept CMU in the game for the majority of the second half.
The Chippewas will head to the National Invitation Tournament next week. Pairings for the NIT will be announced at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.
A back-and-forth game was decided by a several key Buffalo 3-pointers late in the second half, sealing the victory for the Bulls.
"This one stings. It will sting for awhile," said Head Coach Keno Davis. "They hit a couple of more 3-pointers than us. That is where we strive. We just didn't have any answer for them when they were able to go inside and outside."
The Bulls brought down 13 offensive rebounds to CMU's eight and scored 15 second-chance points during the victory. Fowler said the Bulls' poise under the pressure of constant lead changes is what led to CMU's loss.
"They made some timely plays," Fowler said. "When we would make a run, they would stop it with a timely shot."
CMU's second-leading scorer, junior forward John Simons scored 13 points and attempted just four 3-pointers during the game.
"Since the last time we played them, they were switching (on defense)," Simons said. "They did a good job of switching the guy that was guarding me."
The Chippewas biggest lead came late in the first half when forward Blake Hibbitts drilled a 3-pointer, putting CMU in front 30-25 with 5:28 until halftime.
Buffalo led 42-39 at the break.
"We did what we've done all year long," Simons said. "We missed some shots that normally fall for us. That's part of the game. Our offense was fine."
After finishing the regular season as the top 3-point shooting team in the MAC, and converting on 34 percent of the 3-point shots it took against Toledo in the semifinals, CMU shot just 28 percent from the arc in the second half against UB.
"Buffalo is very talented. Nationally, you're looking at a top 30 team in the country," Davis said. "We played really well, even though we didn't execute on defense as well as I would have liked. But it wasn't for a lack of effort."
Freshman Josh Kozinski drained a 3-pointer, giving CMU new life and cutting UB's lead down to one point midway through the second half.
But a 6-0 UB run expanded the Bulls lead late in the game and CMU could not keep up.
"We talked in the locker room about how it's been since 2003 since Central Michigan has been in the postseason," Davis said. "There are a lot of teams before them that would love to be their position."
