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KALAMAZOO -- Stane's Bufford tied his career-high with 21 points, including three highlight reel dunks, to help Western Michigan win its fourth-straight against IUPUI, 73-72, in front of 2,921 at University Arena. Andrew Hershberger chipped in with his second career double-double scoring 15 points and pulling down a career-high 12 rebounds.
IUPUI (3-5) had a chance to win the ball game on the final possession after Western Michigan (2-3) turned the ball over on a shot clock violation with five seconds remaining. The Jaguars tried to run a play for George Hill, but the Broncos bottled him up to force David Barlow to bring the ball up for the Jaguars. Barlow was swarmed by three Broncos as he passed halfcourt and was unable to attempt a potential game-winning shot.
The score was tight early as the game saw four lead changes and three ties in the first seven minutes. WMU took the lead for good when Wes deVries hit a pair of free throws with 13:01 remaining to put WMU up one, 10-9. The Broncos built the lead to double digits, 25-13, with an 8-0 run over 1:40 as Hershberger and Bufford each hit a pair of buckets.
IUPUI came back with a 10-0 run over 2:29 to trim its deficit to one-point, 27-26, with 1:21 left in the first half. Western Michigan came back as Hershberger hit a jumper and then made a steal and fastbreak dunk to put WMU back up five. Hill hit two free throws with four seconds left in the half for IUPUI, but Brian Snider answered with a three-pointer at the buzzer to put WMU up six, 34-28, at intermission.
Western Michigan quickly went back up by 11 points, 41-30, on a Joe Reitz layup with 17:52 remaining. IUPUI continued to hang around, but WMU was still up 10, 52-42, with 13:44 remaining after a Bufford jumper on the fastbreak. The Jaguars kept chipping away until they cut the lead to one, 63-62, on a free throw by Hill with 6:04 remaining.
The Broncos responded on the next possession as Hershberger tipped in a miss by Derek Drews, but Brandon Cole converted an offensive rebound on the other end for IUPUI to keep the Bronco lead at just one. WMU looked to put the game away with a 7-0 run following Cole's bucket to go up eight, 72-64, with only 3:02 remaining. The Broncos would only score one more point the rest of the game as IUPUI fought back to within one, 73-72, on Barlow's steal and layup with :35 remaining set up the game's final sequence.
Western Michigan was able to get out and run all game, outscoring IUPUI 26-10 in fastbreak points. The Broncos outrebounded IUPUI, 38-29, leading to 18 second-chance points. Western Michigan shot 46.6 percent from the game, but really heated up in the second half by hitting 15-of-27 (55.6%) shots. Many of those came inside as WMU outscored IUPUI 34-30 in the paint.
Bufford and Hershberger were the only Broncos in double figures, but Snider tied his career-high with nine assists.
George Hill tied his career-high with 26 points to lead IUPUI. Brandon Cole added 17 points and 11 rebounds while Matt Burks scored 15 points.
Western Michigan begins a six-game road trip next Friday night at the L.A. Sports Arena against USC at 10:30 p.m. EST. The Broncos will then play three games in the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu before a trip to South Alabama on Dec. 30 and the Mid-American Conference opener at Ohio Jan. 4.
