Central Michigan vs Buffalo 2/5/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Buffalo Bulls and the Central Michigan Chippewas meet in college basketball MAC-tion from the McGuirk Arena on Saturday.

The Buffalo Bulls will look to rebound from back-to-back losses after a 74-53 loss to Ohio last time out. Jeenathan Williams leads the Bulls in scoring with 18.7 PPG along with 5.8 RPG while Ronaldo Segu has 15.4 PPG with a team-high 4.8 APG this season. Josh Mballa leads the Bulls on the glass with 8.1 RPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Buffalo so far this season. Maceo Jack also has 9.3 PPG with 3.8 RPG as well this season. As a team, Buffalo is averaging 78.7 PPG on 44.8% shooting from the field, 32.8% from three and 70.6% from the foul line while allowing 72.5 PPG on 42.3% shooting from the field and 30.7% from three this season.

The Central Michigan Chippewas will try to add to their three-game win streak after a 65-55 win over Western Michigan last time out. Jermaine Jackson Jr. has 11.4 PPG and 2.7 APG while Kevin Miller has 10.8 PPG with a team-high 4.1 APG and Cameron Healy has 11 PPG. Harrison Oscar Lopez Jr. has 10 PPG with 4.2 RPG to round out the group of double-digit scorers for CMU so far this season. Ralph Bissainthe also has 9.5 PPG with a team-high 7.1 RPG to lead the Chippewas on the glass as well this season. As a team, Central Michigan is averaging 65.1 PPG on 41.1% shooting from the field, 36.7% from three and 66.7% from the foul line while allowing 79.3 PPG on 47.3% shooting from the field and 34.5% from three this season.

Buffalo is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games as a road favorite and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 road games against a team with a home winning percentage below .400 while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games as a favorite. Central Michigan is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 home games.

I get why you could make a case for Central Michigan as a home dog, but the bottom line for me here is that the level of competition on the two sides here have been two opposite ends of the spectrum. Buffalo’s two losses came against Ohio and Toledo, arguably the teams to beat in the conference this year, while Central Mich has beat Western Michigan, Bowling Green and NIU. Far from tough competition. Give me the Bulls and lay the points as the Bulls give Central Michigan a reality check here.