Following a 42-point loss Tuesday, the Chippewas seemed poised to right the ship and keep their hopes for a Mid-American Conference Tournament berth alive.

While the final score closer than Tuesday, CMU registered its seventh-consecutive conference loss, falling to Buffalo 85-73 Thursday at Alumni Arena.

The Chippewas (6-14, 2-11 MAC) have now lost eight straight regular season tussles with the Bulls (11-7, 9-5) and dropped 11 of their last 13 games. Buffalo now leads the all-time series 25-14.

“Our effort, short-handed, was very admirable,” said head coach Keno Davis. “If we can use (Thursday’s loss) as a learning point to play that hard moving forward I think you’re going to see some great things from these guys individually as they improve as players.

“You saw a great effort and a great attitude. But when it all comes down to it, we were a team that was a little too short-handed to win on the road.

CMU was again without senior guards Travon Broadway Jr., Devontae Lane and freshman big man Aundre Polk Thursday, dressing nine players for the second consecutive game.

Davis said CMU had a 20-minute practice Wednesday that featured their first 5-on-5 practice in three weeks.

KEY MOMENTS

The Chippewas managed to keep the Bulls in check for a majority of the first half, including two ties with under five minutes to play in the opening 20 minutes. With the game tied at 26 with 3:21 to play the Bulls would finish the first half with an 11-3 run to take a 37-29 lead into intermission.

The Bulls used a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 15 points with 16:57 remaining. The Chippewas used a 13-3 run late in the second half to pull within eight points with 2:22 remaining.

The Bulls scored eight of the games final 12 points to hand the Chippewas their 11th conference loss of the season.

KEY PERFORMERS

Junior guard Caleb Huffman scored a game-best 24 points on 10-of-22 shooting. Juniors Matt Beachler and Ralph Bissainthe combined to produce 27 points.

LaQuill Hardnett, one of five Bulls to finish in double figure point totals, lead the home team with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

KEY STATS

While the Bulls finished 1-of-14 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes, the Chippewas committed 11 turnovers to Buffalo’s two.

The Chippewas were outrebounded 39-29 and managed 36 points in the paint to Buffalo’s 50.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Chippewas travel to Muncie, Indiana to clash with Ball State at 1p.m. Saturday before finishing their MAC schedule with home games against Toledo at 5 p.m. on March 2 and against Northern Illinois at 5 p.m. on March 5.

STANDINGS

Seven teams have punched the ticket to Cleveland. The Chippewas are currently four games back of Ball State with three games currently scheduled. Western Michigan owns a potential tie-breaker with the Chippewas after winning both regular season meetings.

SCHOOL MAC OVERALL

*Toledo 13-3 18-6

*Akron 12-3 14-5

*Kent State 11-5 14-6

*Ohio 9-4 13-6

*Buffalo 9-5 11-7

*Miami 9-7 12-9

*Bowling Green 8-7 12-9

Ball State 6-8 8-11

Western Michigan 3-11 4-15

Central Michigan 2-11 6-14

Eastern Michigan 1-10 4-11