ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Freshman Darius Paul recorded his first career double-double, but the Western Michigan men's basketball team couldn't keep pace with #3 Michigan as the Wolverines defeated the Broncos 73-41 at Crisler Arena on Tuesday.  The win snaps the Broncos' six-game win streak, giving them an overall record of 6-2.

Paul extended his streak of games with double-digit scoring output to seven, contributing 10 points and 10 rebounds to the cause.  The streak remains the longest by a Broncos freshman since Ben Reed scored in double-digits in 13 straight games in the 2001-02 campaign.  Shayne Whittington excelled despite struggling with early foul trouble, finishing with four points, six rebounds, and an assist.  Connar Tava had a solid showing off the bench with four points, three rebounds, and an assist.

The Broncos were plagued by a cold shooting night, finishing just 13-of-45  from the field for a 28.9 shooting percentage.  Conversely, their opponents were sharp from the field, shooting 50.0 percent from the field and making 8-of-21 three-pointers to build their lead.  WMU was solid on the glass against the Wolverines in the first half, out-rebounding them 16-12 and holding even through the greater portion of the first period.

The Broncos kept even pace with the Wolverines through the first media timeout, taking control of the glass and denying Michigan the opportunity for second chance points.  Brandon Pokley pulled the Broncos to within one score when he drilled a long three-pointer from the right corner to make it 6-4 at the 15:35 mark, and Paul would tie the score with an old-fashioned three-point play at the 13:46 mark.  The Wolverines would counter and re-take the lead, but Nate Hutcheson  cut the deficit to one point by hitting a turnaround jumper to make it 12-11 with just under 12 minutes to play.

Michigan would heat up from that point, though, out-scoring the Broncos 23-10 for the remainder of the period to build a double-digit halftime lead.  Paul would slash into that late Wolverine run, though, scoring on a lay-up at the 1:14 mark on a smart feed in the paint from Jared Klein.  Connar Tava would cut Michigan's lead to 35-21 entering the break with lay-up at the 14-second mark to close the scoring in the half.

Austin Richie started things off for the Broncos in the second half, draining an NBA-range three at the outset to cut the Wolverines' lead to 35-24. That would be as close as the game would be for the duration, however, as the Wolverines shot 5-of-11 from three-point range in the second half to cruise to the final margin.