No. 14 Buffalo looks for winning path at Kent State

No. 14 Buffalo will have to do something Friday it has done only once this season: respond from a loss.

It has been mostly winning for the Bulls this year, but there have been two exceptions.

One was a loss at Marquette on Dec. 21, which Buffalo followed with a six-game winning streak. The other came Tuesday, when that six-game winning streak ended with a 77-75 loss at Northern Illinois.

Time will tell what will transpire for Buffalo (17-2, 5-1 MAC) following its latest loss, but its bid to respond and start another long winning streak will start Friday when it travels to Mid-American Conference East division rival Kent State (15-4, 4-2).

Turnovers have started to become an issue for the Bulls in the past three games.

Buffalo, which averages 11.7 turnovers per game this season, committed 14 turnovers against Western Michigan on Jan. 15. The Bulls had 16 giveaways against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 18 before committing 17 turnovers in the loss to Northern Illinois.

Following the loss, Buffalo coach Nate Oats said his team needs to get back to doing what it has done most of the season.

"They played harder than we did (on Tuesday) and they deserved to win the game," Oats said. "We need to get back to the blue-collar stuff that got us to this point, like rebounding and diving for loose balls, and (Tuesday) we didn't do that."

The loss to Northern Illinois dropped Buffalo into second place in the MAC East, one game behind Bowling Green.

Right behind Buffalo in the standings is Kent State, which is in third place in the MAC East.

The Golden Flashes enter with a lot of momentum following an 87-85 overtime win at home over Toledo on Tuesday, a game in which Kent State trailed by 17 points in the second half.

It was Kent State's third straight win and fourth in the past five games.

"The resiliency that we showed in the second half, down 17, just unbelievable," Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said after the win over Toledo. "Tremendous, tremendous toughness. I'm really proud of these guys. This is a great win for us, obviously, but the way we won was even more important."

Kent State possesses a big force on offense in senior guard Jaylin Walker, who leads the MAC in scoring at 23.4 points per game.

"The first thing he did when he saw the stat sheet, as we were walking over here, was make a comment saying, 'Dang, I had four turnovers,'" Senderoff said.

"He cares about playing as well as he can play. That's something that he is thinking about, that 'I've got to be better in that area.' He still has room to grow as a player."

Senior guard CJ Massinburg leads Buffalo in scoring at 18.1 points per game.

This is the first of two regular-season meetings between the teams. The rematch will be held at Buffalo on Feb. 23.

--Field Level Media