GAME NOTES: The Buffalo Bulls have won four straight games, and can clinch the Mid-American Conference East Division regular season title with a win over the Akron Zips Tuesday in conference action at Rhodes Arena.

Buffalo has won four straight games, and seven of the team's last eight overall. The Bulls are one of the hottest teams in the MAC heading down the stretch run of the season, and own a 12-4 conference record - two games ahead of Akron for the MAC East lead. The Bulls are coming off a 78-55 win over Miami-Ohio on Saturday.

Akron, after leading the conference for a good portion of the season, has slipped lately, losing four of its last six games. The Zips finally put an end to a three-game skid with a 57-47 win Saturday over Bowling Green, which boosted their conference record to 10-6.

Akron has a slim 26-23 lead over Buffalo in the all-time series between the two teams, 26-23. The Bulls though, closed the gap a bit when they defeated the Zips in a head-to-head matchup, 96-90, on Feb. 19 at Buffalo.

Buffalo actually trailed on Saturday to Miami-Ohio at the half, 30-28, but then exploded in the second frame for 50 points and outscored the RedHawks, 50-25, to take the lead and the victory. Joshua Freelove posted 24 points to lead the Bulls in the win, while Javon McCrea notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jarod Oldham tallied 11 points with a team-high five assists, and Will Regan rounded out the scorers in double figures for Buffalo with 10 points and six boards.

McCrea's stellar season continues. The Buffalo big man averages a double- double this season with a team-leading 18.5 ppg and 10.1 rpg. McCrea's 59 blocked shots is by far the best on the team, and his 42 steals is five behind Oldham's team-best total of 47. Freelove, who boosted his scoring average over the weekend, checks in at second on the team in scoring with 13 ppg, followed by Regan's 10.5 ppg average. Oldham also leads the team with 138 assists on the season.

Akron and Bowling Green battled to a low-scoring first half total, as the Zips went into the locker room with a slight 20-18 advantage. But the second half is where the Zips broke open the lead by outscoring the Falcons, 37-29, to earn the 10-point victory. Demetrius Treadwell paced Akron with 17 points, adding nine rebounds and five assists to his stat line. Quincy Diggs chipped in with 13 points and six boards in the victory.

Treadwell leads the team in scoring on the season with a 14.7 ppg average, also topping the squad in rebounding at 8.7 rpg. Diggs checks in behind Treadwell with 12 ppg, adding 4.8 rpg and a team-best 2.6 apg mark and 1.7 spg. Outside of Treadwell and Diggs, the Zips haven't been able to put much scoring together. The team average 67.5 ppg through 29 games played, but holds opponents to 65.9 ppg.

This is it. This is the most important game of Buffalo's season to date. The Bulls can clinch the MAC East title with a win, which will be difficult on the road. But the lack of scoring recently from Akron is a bit concerning, and Buffalo's well-rounded starting lineup will take advantage.