The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team hosted the University of Buffalo for a 3:30 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Jan. 27, in Mid-American Conference (MAC) action. The game served as the nightcap of a doubleheader following the loss of the women's team inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
Junior guard Tyson Acuff (Detroit, Mich.) boasts an impressive scoring average of 21.8 points per game over 19 matches, leading the MAC and securing the fifth spot nationally. Additionally, he has achieved 23 or more points in nine games this season, ranking him third in this category. Tommy Bruner of Denver leads with 13 instances, followed by Zach Edey of Purdue with 11.
Freshman Arne Osojnik (Ljubljana, Slovenia) stepped up this game. Osojnik recorded 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while Acuff led the team with 19 points while securing seven rebounds and contributing four assists.
“We are all going through these learning curves, we’re trying to find ourselves our identity. We are watching a lot of films… just so we can see what it takes to win," head coach Stan Heath said in his postgame press conference following the win.
The lead exchanged hands between the teams during the first half, ultimately settling with the Eagles holding a 35-33 advantage at halftime.
Buffalo briefly claimed a 36-35 lead just 13 seconds into the second half, but the Eagles responded with an impressive 8-0 run. With four minutes remaining, EMU expanded its lead to a maximum of 14 points before the final buzzer.
With this win, EMU moved to 9-11 overall and 2-6 in the MAC while Buffalo moved to 2-17 overall and 1-6 in the MAC.
“Even at the end of the game when we are up, I want to make sure we close it the right way," Heath said. "Those things are really important.”
The Eagles displayed sharp shooting, hitting 50% from the field and 41.2% from beyond the arc, with a 29-of-58 overall and 7-of-17 three-point performance. In contrast, Buffalo achieved a 41.5% field goal rate and a 24.2% three-point accuracy, going 27-of-65 and 8-of-33. This marks the fourth occasion this season that the Green and White have surpassed the 40% mark in three-point shooting, coinciding with their fourth instance of achieving a 50% shooting accuracy overall.
Acuff led the team with 19 points, extending his impressive streak to 22 consecutive games with at least 11 points. His total of 839 points as an Eagle now places him 47th in EMU history. Notably, Acuff surpasses John Bowler's (2005-06) record for the most consecutive games scoring at least 10 points by an EMU player since 2000.
“I thought the second half we tweaked and fixed some things that were bothers that were in the first half, the guys did a nice job of sharing the ball,” Heath said, “We got the ball to go in the basket. That makes a big difference and helps your defense too.”
Eight players from the Green and White successfully made multiple field goals in the game, marking only the second occurrence this season where the Eagles achieved such widespread scoring distribution. The previous instance took place against Georgia Southern University on Nov. 11, where, once again, eight players demonstrated proficiency with multiple made field goals.
Next for the Eagles, they are scheduled to host the MAC-leading University of Akron on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
