WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team were competitive in the early going, but were unable to overcome a talent-laden Purdue squad in falling 80-37 to the Boilermakers at Mackey Arena on Wednesday. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 0-5 on the season. The Boilermakers improve to 5-1.

The Broncos actually jumped out to an early lead when Nate Hutcheson launched a three-pointer to open the scoring at the 18:37 mark. After the Boilermakers tied the score a minute later, Hutcheson again put the Broncos up with a lay-up at the 16:43 mark. Purdue would take the lead on the next possession and never again relinquish it, eventually setting a 12-point lead in the half.

The Broncos, however, would embark on a small run to cut the lead against the Boilermakers, pulling to within two possessions late in the first half. Demetrius Ward would hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 28-18 with less than five minutes remaining. Flenard Whitfield hit a 15-foot jumper on the next possession to slice the lead to eight points, and Shayne Whittington would take a deft pass down low from Ward and lay it in to make it 28u-22 with 2:34 in the first half.

The vaunted Purdue defense would up the pressure from that point, however, and stymie the Broncos for the remainder of the game. The Boilermakers would score 47 points in the second half, in comparison to just 15 points for the Broncos, and shut down the Broncos in the paint. Though the Broncos were able to get to the free throw line – they shot a total of 29 free throws – the Boilermakers kept them quiet from the floor.

Mike Douglas scored a team-high eight points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Hutcheson and Whitfield each tied for the game-high with six rebounds apiece.