KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team dispatched the preseason Mid-American Conference West Division favorite by double digits on Wednesday, as the Broncos defeated the Toledo Rockets 87-76 in University Arena. With the win, the Broncos improve to 8-5 on the season, 1-0 in MAC play; they handed the Rockets just their second loss of the year.
WMU continued its streak of lights-out offensive performances on its home floor, shooting 29-of-48 (.604) from the field and stunning the rockets with an early barrage from three-point range. The story of the game, though, was the Bronco defensive effort; one of the best offenses in the MAC and the nation entering the game, the Rockets were held to just a 36.8 shooting percentage, including a 5-of-22 (.227) mark from three-point range.
Connar Tava led the Broncos with 25 points on a perfect 9-of-9 night from the floor, while also adding five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Austin Richie notched a season-high 19 points, with 17 coming in the first half, and finished the game 4-of-6 (.667) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. Shayne Whittington recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and David Brown overcame a slow first half to finish with 12 points, his 18th straight game with double-digit scoring.
The Broncos pummeled the Rockets after giving up the first basket of the game, ripping off a 12-0 run to turn a one-possession game into a near-runaway. WMU lead 6-5 early on after Nathan Boothe made a pair of free throws for Toledo, but Tava scored four straight points to put the Broncos ahead 10-5, and Richie drained three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to make it 16-5 with 13:52 remaining in the half. The lead hovered around that deficit until Whittington made a hook shot over his left shoulder to put WMU ahead 26-12, and Richie tacked on another trey with under 10 minutes to play to make it 29-12.
Richie expanded the lead to 20 points with a three-pointer to make it 34-14 with 8:32 remaining in the half, and Tava went around end two possessions later and recorded the lay-up to give WMU its biggest lead of the night, a 22-point edge with 7:25 to play. Toledo chipped the lead away to 12 points with 1:31 remaining in the half on a three-pointer from Julius Brown, but Tucker Haymond made a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to keep the Broncos ahead by a 47-33 mark at the half.
The Rockets pushed their way back into the contest throughout much of the second half, cutting the lead to just eight points on a three-pointer from Matt Smith at the 13:54 mark. Jared Klein responded with a trey of his own on the very next possession, though, to make it 59-48; Haymond would add three straight points on a free throw and a jumper to up the lead back to 14 points. Tava went on a personal 7-0 run to push the lead up to 16 points, capping it off with an and-1 lay-up and a free throw make at the 6:46 mark.
That would be the largest Bronco lead for the rest of the half, as Toledo caught fire and began to pull closer. It was just a two-possession ball-game with 4:42 remaining, as Rian Pearson knocked down a three from the right win to make it 74-70, but the Rockets got no closer as the Broncos pulled away. Richie made a pair of free throws with 1:51 remaining to make it 83-74, and Brown kept the lead at double-digits for good with a pair of free throw makes at the 32-second mark to ice it, making it 87-76.
