BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team fell behind early and was unable to make up the deficit on the road, as the Broncos fell 84-63 to the Buffalo Bulls in Alumni Arena on Wednesday. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 11-8 on the season, 4-3 in Mid-American Conference play. They will return home to face the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.
The Broncos turned the offense up a notch in the second half, going 15-of-27 (.556) from the floor and at one point cutting the Bulls' lead down to just 10 points. However, Buffalo controlled the paint against WMU, out-scoring the Broncos 52-32, and the Bulls out-rebounded the Broncos 41-24, including a 15-7 edge in offensive rebounding that severely limited the Broncos' ability to add offensive possessions.
Shayne Whittington played most of the game with foul trouble but still managed 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, also adding five rebounds and a career-high five steals. Senior David Brown reached double-figures for the 24th consecutive game with 11 points, while freshman Tucker Haymond notched 11 points for his second double-digit scoring night in three games. Connar Tava finished with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Von Washington III and Kellen McCormick came off the bench to provide six and five points, respectively.
The Broncos' best shot at a comeback came midway through the second half, with WMU using a 14-5 run that began at the 17:40 mark to pull within 10 points of the Bulls. Whittington got things going on a fast break dunk, with Brown pulling down a defensive rebound and finding the big man streaking down the court for the slam. Whittington made it 47-32 with 15:59 left on another fast break dunk, this time with Tava swiping the ball from Will Regan and sending it ahead.
Taylor Perry jumped a passing line and stole the ball from Javon McCrea and kicked it ahead to Brown with 13:43 left in the second half, who then found Tava in the paint for the reverse lay-up to make it 52-38. Tava drilled a three-pointer from the head of the key on the Broncos' next offensive possession to cut the lead to 11 points, and Haymond made one of two free throws with 11:54 left to cut the Bulls' lead to 10 points. Tava kept the margin at 10 points with a putback lay-up to make it 54-44, but from there Buffalo took control and expanded the lead, going ahead by as many as 22 points with 1:25 left on the clock.
