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Buffalo sweeps MAC player, coaching awards

CLEVELAND -- Buffalo swept the Mid-American Conference's top regular-season awards with guard C.J. Massinburg tabbed as the best player and Nate Oats recognized as coach of the year.

Massinburg is averaging 18.5 points per game for the No. 18 Bulls (28-3), who will begin defending their MAC title on Thursday in the quarterfinals against Akron. The senior has scored in double figures in all but one game. He opened the season with a 43-point performance at West Virginia.

Massinburg enters the tournament with 1,910 career points, second highest in school history.

Oats was named the MAC's Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Oats is a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year.

Buffalo has already set a program record for wins in a season and the Bulls set a MAC mark with 16 wins.

The awards were voted on by a panel of 21 media members and the league's 12 coaches.