KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team controlled the action from start to finish in their Mid-American Conference home opener, defeating the Buffalo Bulls 78-68 at University Arena on Saturday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 10-5 overall, 1-1 in MAC play. They have now won 13 straight games at home dating back to last season.
Austin Richie snapped out of a short scoring funk with a team-high 21 points against the Bulls, going 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range. David Brown went off for 17 points and posted the team-highs in rebounds (9), assists (5), and steals (4). Tucker Haymond and Connar Tava each recorded 12 points and combined for 12 rebounds between the two of them. Von Washington came off the bench for six points, while Taylor Perry contributed three points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 16 minutes.
The Broncos came out of the gates firing in the first half, with Austin Richie and David Brown capping a 14-4 run with three-pointers leading into the first media timeout. The pace slowed considerably from there as the teams settled in defensively, but Richie put the Broncos ahead 19-8 with a hotly contested three from the head of the key. Buffalo battled back and pulled to within 24-20, but Taylor Perry tacked on a pair of free throws at the 5:47 mark to push the lead back to six points.
Buffalo cut it to just 26-25, but Tava made it a two-possession edge with a lay-up off a great feed from Perry to make it 29-25. Von Washington bumped the lead back up to seven points with shock three from the right side, firing the long bomb to make it 32-25. The Kalamazoo native added one more from the left side at the 1:08 mark, drilling a shot from in front of the Buffalo bench to give the Broncos a 35-25 lead. WMU maintained the edge entering the break, entering the locker room at halftime with a 37-29 advantage.
Richie started off the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play, rushing in from the left side for a lay-up through contact and making the ensuing free throw to make it 42-35. The senior point guard knocked down a three-pointer on his next trip down the floor, opening up a 10-point lead with 16:30 to play. Tucker Haymond buried one from in front of the Bronco bench with 15:39 to go to make it 48-37 and cap a 9-0 run, and later tipped in an errant shot but the Broncos ahead by 12.
The Broncos kept the Bulls at arms' length for much of the rest of the half, with Mario Matasovic sinking a pair of free throws at the 7:00 mark to make it 63-55. Tava added on during the next possession, taking an inlet feed from Richie and spinning around Justin Moss to lay it in for a 10-point Bronco advantage. The run continued with a backdoor cut by Brown, with Tava bouncing a pass in on the run to make it 67-55, and Haymond added to the Broncos their biggest lead of the night by converting an and-one to make it a 15-point game. The sophomore wing player finished off the 11-run with a coast-to-coast rush down the court, laying it in to put the Broncos ahead 72-55 with 3:38 to go. The Bulls scored seven of the next nine points to try and mount a comeback, but the Broncos held them at bay long enough to secure the win.
