If all things go right, Buffalo could be the Mid-American Conference's first team to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1999.

That scenario only comes to fruition if the Bulls don't become an automatic qualifier for coming out of the conference tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, victorious next month.

Regardless, it's going to be hard to stop the No. 22 ranked scoring offense (83.3 ppg) in the country, with four players averaging double figures this season.

Central Michigan had to learn that lesson on Tuesday, coming up short in the 88-82 loss at McGuirk Arena, which put an end to a two-game winning streak. UB has now won 12 straight games against MAC West teams dating back to last year.

"When you see Buffalo and the talent they have on the court, if they do make the NCAA Tournament, they'll have a chance against anybody that they face," CMU coach Keno Davis said.

It was as good of a fight that the Chippewas could have provided after last Saturday's double overtime win at Ohio, against a team who's lost once in its league slate, holding an RPI rating 32 and No. 81 ranking by KenPom.com.

Junior transfer Shawn Roundtree scored 20 points before not being able to finish due to fouling out. Cecil Williams finished with a game-high 23 points as the Bulls went 50 percent (32-64) from the field.

Having went to the free throw line nine times for a 94.1 percent conversion percentage, Central Michigan's field goal shooting from beyond the arc took a significant hit, converting only eight while missing 26.

Fifth-year guard Josh Kozinski, who was honored before the game for breaking the program record for career triples last week, and David DiLeo combined for 5-of-18 from long distance.

"It came down to us missing shots," Roundtree said. "Tonight, they just didn't fall. It's up to us to get back to the gym and get more shots up so next time we can hit them."

The Chippewas never led once the entire game, going down double figures at the 9:21 mark before halftime. The scoring difference didn't necessarily reflect CMU's output, starting off rather well off the bat.

Shooting 5-of-6 from the floor in the opening four minutes, it was exactly how Davis wanted to see his team begin, even if it never mirrored the production from Buffalo, who went 3-of-3 from 3-point range during that span.

Central Michigan pulled to within six points with 2:03 left in the second half, but the intentional fouling led to UB missing just one free throw in the final minutes.

"We came out and shot the ball well but we had no answer for them defensively," Davis said. "We let them run a lot, which they've done to almost every team in this conference."

All nine players for the Bulls scored while CMU was without junior transfer guard Gavin Peppers, who injured his right leg in practice this week and will be out for two weeks.