The Buffalo Bulls and the Akron Zips meet Saturday in college basketball action from James A. Rhodes Arena. Buffalo is currently 12-14 on the year after a loss to Ohio on Tuesday. As for Akron, they’re sitting at 18-8 so far. The Zips beat Eastern Michigan in their Tuesday matchup. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Buffalo Bulls
Buffalo opened the year on a .500 clip, going 9-9 over their first 18 games. The Bulls are 3-5 since then with losses to Toledo, Kent State, Akron, Kent State again and Ohio alongside wins versus Ball State, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan.
In the Ohio matchup on Tuesday, Buffalo took a 34-22 deficit into the locker room. The Bulls were outscored 51-39 from there and lost 85-61. Both Curtis Jones and Jonnivius Smith posted a team-high 14 points with a combined 11 rebounds.
Akron Zips
Over on the Akron side, they were 12-6 in their first 18 games of the year. The Zips are a solid 6-2 in their last eight with wins over Western Michigan, Miami-OH, Ohio, Buffalo, Kent State and Eastern Michigan. The losses were to Toledo and Ohio.
Matched up against Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, the Zips took a 29-20 edge into the second half. Akron rolled on a 49-31 advantage from there and won 78-51. Top scorer Enrique Freeman doubled on 22 points and 15 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll stick with Akron here. The Zips are coming off a nice effort on the road over a struggling Eastern Michigan team, which halted consecutive losses to Toledo and Ohio. Akron is still scoring well regardless with 67 or more points in seven straight games. These teams last met up on New Year’s Eve at UB Alumni Arena. Akron didn’t have much trouble in that one, jumping out to a 42-25 halftime lead in an eventual 81-64 win. Coming back home for the rematch I don’t see Akron running into too many difficulties.