Buffalo vs. Kent State prediction and odds for Friday, January 27 (Golden Flashes get back on track)
By Reed Wallach
Kent State had their 10 game winning streak snapped on the road Tuesday against Northern Illinois, but now get the opportunity to get back on track at home against a fast paced Buffalo team.
The Golden Flashes are emerging as one of the most dangerous mid-majors this season, backed by an elite defense that will look to stunt the Bulls fast paced offense that relies on their ability to generate second chances.
Kent State is laying a big number, can they get back to their winning ways at home?
Let’s check out the odds:
Buffalo vs. Kent State odds, spread and total
Buffalo vs. Kent State prediction and pick
This is setting up for a blowout victory for the Golden Flashes, a team that is elite at defending transition offenses. The team is 21st in effective field goal percentage allowed in transition according to Hoop-Math, which is the perfect antidote to the Buffalo offense. The Bulls run at a top 10 pace, per KenPom, but if Kent State’s defense is wise to it this can be a tough go for the visitors against the Golden Flashes top 30 defense by KenPom’s numbers.
In the half court, expect Buffalo to focus on crashing the glass, posting the best offensive rebounding rate in the MAC, but Kent State has been strong on the glass, fourth in MAC defensive rebounding rate.
As for Kent State’s offense, they are willing to push the pace, and Buffalo’s preference to crash the glass leaves them vulnerable to transition the other way. The Bulls allow transition possessions at a bottom 30 rate and are far worse at defending it. Opponents are posting a 55% effective field goal percentage in transition, 258th in the country.
Ultimately, this is a bad matchup for the Bulls and I think Kent State gets back on track here with a blowout win.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.