Six MAC Men's Basketball Games Set For Saturday

• Ohio has won its last eight home games against MAC West foes and 14 of its last 15, dating back to 2006-07. Ohio has three players averaging in double figures with Cooper leading the way at 13.5 points per game. Offutt is averaging 11.8 points per game and Baltic is chipping in 10.9 points per game for the Bobcats...CMU is led by Trey Zeigler who is averaging 16.1 points per game.  He also ranks among the rebounding leaders in the conference and was a preseason All-MAC selection. The Chippewas are looking to snap a six-game losing skid, which ties as the longest in the last six seasons. The Chippewas are averaging 17.7 offensive rebounds per game over the last three contests. 

Miami (6-14, 2-6 MAC) at Ball State (12-8, 4-4 MAC)

• Ball State is coming off of a 73-57 loss at Buffalo that extended its current losing streak to three games. Entering the week, the Cardinals ranked ranked 14th nationally in field-goal percentage defense and 18th in scoring defense. Senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in both points and rebounds, averaging 17.3 and 8.8 per game, respectively... Behind a 19-point, 19-rebound, eight-assist performance in an overtime thriller against Eastern Michigan, senior forward Julian Mavunga was named ESPN Stats and Info’s Player of the Night on Feb. 1. Against the Eagles, Mavunga hauled in the most rebounds and sunk the most free throws (13) by a MAC player this season. 

• Coming off of its biggest road MAC win in 11 years, Bowling Green hosts Northern Illinois Saturday at 6 p.m. in a game televised by SportsTime Ohio. BGSU’s A’uston Calhoun is averaging 17.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in the past four games. He scored a career-high 29 against Buffalo and had his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds against Central Michigan... Last time out against Ohio, NIU’s Antone Christian scored a season-high 15 points as the Huskies went to the half trailing the Bobcats by just one before falling 67-58. Bowling Green evened its conference record last time out with a 72-48 victory at Western Michigan. 

• Kent State heads into this weekend’s contest with Western Michigan having won three straight following road wins at Toledo and Central Michigan this past week. The high powered offense (75.2 ppg.) has five players averaging better than 9.5 points per game, led by 13.0 points per game from junior guard Randal Holt and 12.9 points per game from senior forward Justin Greene... The Broncos are out-rebounding MAC opponents by an average of 8.7 rebounds per game. Since entering the starting line-up against Ohio, Shayne Whittington is averaging team bests with 12.3 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game, and is shooting 15-of-22 (.682) from the field

• Buffalo is looking to win its sixth straight game.The Bulls are coming off a 73-57 win over Ball State on Wednesday night. The Bulls were led by Mitchell Watt who had 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five blocked shots. Zach Filzen added 14 points for the Bulls...Toledo is coming off an 86-72 loss at Akron on Wednesday night. The Rockets have four players scoring in double-figures, led by Rian Pearson who is averaging 17 points and eight rebounds per game.

•Akron has posted an 12-2 record over the past 14 games.  The Zips are outscoring their opponents by 11.2 ppg, are averaging 15.1 assists/game and hold a +4.2 rebounding advantage. Akron’s 7-1 start to MAC play ties the program record for best conference start through eight games (2006-07, 2005-06, 1999-2000)...Eastern Michigan enters the contest as the West Division leaders.  The Eagles have won four of their last six games and are 4-10 on the road. Darrell Lampley is the only player averaging double figures in the scoring column (13.5 ppg).  Jamell Harris is the team’s leading rebounder (6.1 rpg).