Box Score
Season Stats
KALAMAZOO -- Derek Drews and Michael Redell each tied their career high with 17 points as Western Michigan University beat the University at Buffalo, 85-64, to improve in front of 2,731 fans at University Arena on Wednesday night.
Drews also tied a career high with five three-pointers and all of his 17 points came in the second half, while Redell contributed six assists with only one turnover for the Broncos (10-11, 5-3 MAC).
The Bulls (9-12, 1-7 MAC) scored first on a pair of free throws by Andy Robinson to give them the lead. Shawntes Gary hit a jump shot and David Kool followed with a three point basket to give the Broncos the lead, 5-3, a lead which the Broncos would keep for the rest of the game. The Broncos would later go on a 12-3 run to put them further ahead, 20-11, with 9:55 remaining. The Bulls would go on an 8-2 run in the closing minutes to bring them within seven at halftime, 36-29.
Buffalo was never able to get closer than seven points in the second half when the Broncos were able to extend their lead to 20 a few times and 21 in the final minutes.
Gary scored 14 points for the Broncos. He's scored in double figures in five of his last seven games after scoring in double figures only three times in his first 18. Joe Reitz scored eight points and had a game-high 10 rebounds, giving him his third straight game with double-digit rebounds. Kool also contributed nine points for WMU, who shot 64 percent from the field and hit seven three pointers in the second half.
Yassin Idbihi led the Bulls with 13 points and seven rebounds while Parnell Smith had 12 points and Max Boudreau contributed 10 points and five rebounds. The MAC leader in three-pointers made, Eric Moore, was held to only five points and was 0-of-4 from deep. The Bulls led the MAC in three-point shooting in conference games, but were 0-for-11 against the Broncos' defense.
Western Michigan also forced Buffalo into 22 turnovers that were capitalized into 33 points by the Brown & Gold. Kool led WMU with three steals, while Dan Hess and Donald Cloutier each had two thefts.
The Broncos now travel to Millet Hall to face the Miami University Redhawks on Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
QUOTES
Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon
(On the game) "I thought Western did a good job of bouncing back from their game on Saturday. They pushed the pace, they got the ball out and up the floor quickly. They were very aggressive off the dribble. We didn't do a good enough job."
WMU guard Michael Redell
(On Derek Drews) "He shot the heck out of the ball. We see it every day in practice. When he gets open looks and we can find him, it's going in a lot of the time. He hit a lot of big shots to help us extend the lead."
(On building on leads) "We definitely did a good job in the second half of taking that 10 point lead to 15 and continuing to build on it. That's extremely important for us as a basketball team to have that killer instinct and put teams away."\
WMU guard/forward Derek Drews
(On his performance) "I take my shots when they come and tonight they came.
"I think tonight I was able to get down and play some good defense in the second half and that got me in the flow of things. Just consistent play all around will help contribute to a couple more of these nights."
WMU head coach Steve Hawkins
(On the game) "Obviously, we played a lot better offensively tonight. I thought we did a much better job of running our offense harder. We were a little more determined in getting to the rim. Defensively, we did enough. We did a great job on Moore. They didn't hit a three all night long. Overall, it was a very good night for us."
(On Derek Drews) "Derek has great shot preparation. He did a very good job of getting vision (so teammates could find him). The ball found him. He could shoot the ball in rhythm. Whoever the assists were also deserve a lot of credit for Derek's points, but Derek did a great job of preparing himself and shooting the ball with confidence."
