Zach Filzen scored 21 points to lead Buffalo over Central Michigan 64-50 on Tuesday night in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament.
The eighth-seeded Bulls (18-12), who have the conference's best average margin of victory at 7.1 points, will play the No. 1 seed, Kent State, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Filzen was 5 of 10 from 3-point range, making all but two of Buffalo's shots from behind the arc (7 of 18).
The Bulls made 43.9 percent of their field goals (25 of 57), while the Chippewas (10-21) made 33.4 percent (18 of 53).
Byron Mulkey added 11 points and four assists, Dave Barnett also had 11 points and Jawaan Alston chipped in 10 points for Buffalo, which led 30-26 at halftime.
Derek Jackson had 11 points and Trey Zeigler 10 for ninth-seeded Central Michigan. William McClure grabbed 12 rebounds for the Chippewas.
