Buffalo men, Central women top MAC seeds

Track records establish the University at Buffalo men and Central Michigan University women as the teams to beat in the Mid-American Conference tournaments at Quicken Loans Arena.

The 20th staging of the MAC tournament at The Q begins March 13 with women’s quarterfinals. It ends March 16 with the women’s and men’s championship games.

Buffalo and Central Michigan are the defending champions and No. 1 seeds in the men’s and women’s tournaments, respectively.

The Bulls are 28-3 and ranked 18th in the newest Associated Press poll. Buffalo has been in the top 25 for a MAC-record 17 consecutive weeks. Senior guard CJ Massinburg (18.3 points, 6.3 rebounds) and senior forward Nick Perkins (15.2 points, 6.1 rebounds) are AllMAC first team honorees.

Buffalo comes into the tournament on an eightgame winning streak. The Bulls will face No. 8 seed Akron (17-15) in the first quarterfinal game at noon on March 14. They beat the Zips twice in the regular season, 76-70 and 77-64.

Akron is stingy on defense, allowing a MAC-low 63.7 points per game. Buffalo averages a MAC-high 85.0 points per game.

The Bulls also claimed the men’s tournament title in 2016.

Central Michigan carries an eight-game winning streak into the women’s tournament. The Chippewas are led by 6-foot-senior forward Reyna Frost. She is averaging 21.3 points and a MAC-best 13.6 rebounds.

In the quarterfinals March 13, Central Michigan will face No. 9 Eastern Michigan (15-16), Tipoff is noon. The Chippewas swept the regular season series against the Eagles, 71-61 and 87-66.

MAC tournament winners receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.