CMU men's basketball beats Buffalo, enters conference tournament picture
Central Michigan University men's basketball head coach Andy Bronkema observes his team and gives them direction during a game against Western Michigan University in McGuirk arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (CM-Life | Claire Vachon)
Following Tuesday's come-from-behind loss to Kent State, Central Michigan men's basketball looked to regain its composure against Buffalo as a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament remained within arms reach.
The Chippewas answered the defeat with a 75-70 win over the Bulls, advancing the squad to 10-19 on the season and 6-10 in conference play. CMU also notably jumps to eighth in the MAC standings, holding the final spot for the conference tournament.
The win marks Central Michigan's first road win of the season.
"There was just a lot of progress, you can imagine the last two days in practice revisiting the scenarios... the progress was just good enough to close this out. Really proud of the guys" head coach Andy Bronkema said.
Both teams looked evenly matched to start the game as the two traded points for most of the first half until the Chippewas went on a 9-0 run to close out the first half, giving the squad from Mount Pleasant a 34-26 lead going into halftime.
CMU got hot early from three, shooting 5-8 from beyond the arc in the first half while going 13-27 from the field.
However, CMU most importantly dominated the paint, coming down with 22 rebounds in the first half to Buffalo's nine.
"That's a big state rebounding and so is the free throw line and you can say down the stretch against Kent State they dominated us on the boards and on the free-throw line," Bronkema said. "Part of it is the style Buffalo plays, they are just spacing the floor and knocking down threes."
The second half started with CMU jumping out to a 16 point lead as UB's defense struggled to adjust to the pace of the game.
Buffalo spent the second half trying to battle back into the game, cutting the deficit to four in the final minute.
However, despite the Bull's late game effort CMU kept its composure, winning 75-70 and avoiding a loss of similar nature to Tuesday's game.
"We found a way to close it out right, it still wasn't pretty but it is improvement," Bronkema said. "When negative things happen to you, the way they [CMU] responded was good."
Tamario Adley led the Chippewas in scoring, finishing with 21 points and four rebounds, shooting 7-13 from the field.
Keenan Garner helped CMU dominate the boards, finishing with four points and 10 rebounds on the night.
The Chippewas now control the eighth and final seed in the conference tournament going into their final two games.
"We never lost the locker room, that's a testament to the coaches and the character of the players," Bronkema said. "Not everybody is having their dream year as far as time on the court but they know in their heart that they have a big role on the team."
Central Michigan men's basketball returns to McGuirk Arena for the final time this season to take on Akron on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m.
