The Eastern Michigan Eagles and the Buffalo Bulls meet in college basketball MAC-tion from UB Alumni Arena on Thursday.

The Eastern Michigan Eagles will look to bounce back after a 75-64 loss to Central Michigan in their rivalry game last time out. Yeikson Montero leads the Eagles in scoring and rebounding with 13.7 PPG and 6.2 RPG along with 2.4 steals per game while Ty Groce is 2nd in scoring with 13.6 PPG and Bryce McBride has 13.3 PPG with a team-high 3.2 APG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Eastern Michigan coming into this game. Miles Gibson also has 8.6 PPG with 6 RPG this season. As a team, Eastern Michigan is averaging 72.8 PPG on 42% shooting from the field, 28.6% from 3-point range and 73.7% from the foul line while giving up 71.9 PPG on 46.3% shooting from the field and 35.6% from 3-point range this season.

The Buffalo Bulls will look to bounce back from a heartbreaking 84-81 loss to Kent State that saw Buffalo erase a 21-point halftime deficit and lead by as many as 6 before falling late. Jeenathan Williams leads the Bulls in scoring and is 2nd in rebounding with 19.5 PPG with 8.4 RPG and 2.7 APG while Josh Mballa is 2nd in scoring and tops in rebounding with 15.7 PPG and 9.4 RPG this season. Jayvon Graves is right behind with 15.6 PPG along with 6.6 RPG and a team-high 4 APG and Ronaldo Segu has 14.3 PPG with 3.5 APG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Buffalo coming into this game. As a team, Buffalo is averaging 81.4 PPG on 44.8% shooting from the field, 33% from 3-point range and 64.4% from the foul line while giving up 76 PPG on 40.9% shooting from the field and 27.1% from 3-point range this season.

Eastern Michigan is 2-9-1 ATS in their last 12 games overall and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 road games while the over is 6-2 in their last 8 games overall. Buffalo is 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 home games and 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a losing record while the over is 7-1 in their last 8 games overall.

This may feel like a ton of points to give up to a Buffalo team that could be dealing with a hangover spot after Buffalo rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit to lead against Kent State before falling short in their last game. However, I think the Bulls will only use that as fuel for this game against an Eastern Michigan team that’s providing little value in the underdog role this season. I just think this is a spot where the Bulls’ edge offensively outweighs Eastern Michigan and what they bring to the table, so I’ll lay the points with Buffalo here.