Preview of Saturday’s Mid-American Conference Men’s Basketball Game HADLEY, Mass. (Interstat) — A tightly contested Mid-American Conference series will see its latest chapter Saturday when the Buffalo Bulls visit the Massachusetts Minutemen at the Mullins Center. Both teams enter the 2 p.m. matchup looking to halt recent slides and improve their positioning for the upcoming conference tournament. Buffalo (15-10) has lost four of its last five, including a heartbreaking 70-72 home loss to Northern Illinois on Tuesday. Massachusetts (15-12) has dropped three consecutive games, most recently an 86-77 defeat to Miami (Ohio) on the same night. The matchup is a quick rematch of a Jan. 23 thriller in Buffalo, where the Minutemen escaped with a 68-67 victory. Danny Carbuccia dished out six assists in that win for Massachusetts. Carbuccia remains a key facilitator for the Minutemen, averaging 8.4 assists over his last five games, including a 17-assist performance in a win over Central Michigan on Feb. 3. His playmaking will be central against a Buffalo defense seeking redemption. The Bulls will lean on the hot hand of guard Angelo Brizzi, who has been a consistent scorer despite the team’s struggles. Brizzi is averaging 20.1 points per game over his last seven contests, including a 25-point effort in the loss to Northern Illinois. He was held to just two points in the first meeting with UMass, a factor Buffalo will aim to correct. Beyond the star guards, each team boasts secondary scoring options. For Buffalo, Ryan Sabol added 24 points in the recent loss. Massachusetts saw Isaiah Placide score 19 and Leonardo Bettiol add 18 in its last outing. With nearly identical overall records and recent history defined by close games, Saturday’s contest projects as another pivotal, down-to-the-wire affair in conference play. Both teams are jockeying for momentum with just a handful of regular-season games remaining before the MAC tournament.