MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

No. 1 Buffalo 89, No. 8 Central Michigan 74 No. 5 Kent State 76, No. 4 Ball State, 73 No. 2 Toledo 71, No. 7 Miami 69 No. 3 Eastern Michigan 67, No. 11 Akron 58 No. 1 Central Michigan (26-4) vs. No. 4 Miami (21-9), 11 a.m. No. 2 Buffalo (26-4) vs. No. 6 Western Michigan (18-14), 1:30 p.m. Buffalo vs. Kent State, 6:30 p.m. (TV-CBS Sports) Toledo vs. Eastern Michigan, 9 p.m. (TV-CBS Sports) Women’s championship, 11 a.m. (TV-CBS Sports) Men’s championship, 7 p.m. (TV-ESPN2)

through here today,” Kent coach Rob Senderoff said.

Toledo advances

Toledo is on to the semifinals of the MAC men’s tournament for the first time since 2016 off a 71-69 victory over Miami.

The No. 2 seed Rockets (22-10). holding a 6554 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the second half, nearly flamed out down the stretch against the stubborn No. 7 seed RedHawks.

Miami outscored Toledo over the last four minutes, 15-6, and had a chance to shock the Rockets when freshman guard Nike Sibande launched a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer sounded. The shot missed and the Rockets prevailed.

Junior guard Jaelan Sanford scored a game-high 21 points for the Rockets. Senior guard Tre’Shaun Fletcher, MAC Player of the Year, managed 16 points while shooting 5-of-17 from the field. Toledo also got 16 points off the bench from sophomore center Luke Knapke.

Sibande scored a teamhigh 20 points for Miami. Junior guard Darrian Ringo was 4-of-4 on 3-pointers and added 19

points.

Buffalo wins

The No. 1 seed Buffalo Bulls repeatedly danced with danger in the quarterfinals before pulling away late for an 89-74 victory over No. 8 seed Central Michigan.

Leading, 66-53, eight minutes deep into the second half, the Bulls watched most of that lead evaporate as CMU went on a 17-6 run over the next six minutes to trim Buffalo’s lead to 72-70.

After a missed 3-point attempt by CMU junior guard Josh Kosinski, Buffalo junior forward Jeremy Harris knocked down a 3-pointer that gave the Bulls some much-needed breathing room and triggered a 17-4 run by Buffalo that proved to be decisive.

Harris, an All-MAC second team honoree, finished with a career-high 27 points.

He cashed in nine of 16 field goals overall and was 4-of-8 from 3-point range. The 6-foot-7 North Carolina native also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds as the Bulls improved to 24-8 and advanced to the semifinals on March 9.

“I was playing defense and getting out in transition on offense. My teammates

The Associated Press contributed to this report.