KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Western Michigan slipped to second place in the Mid-American Conference West Division following a 54-44 loss to Buffalo in a physical game at University Arena. The Broncos (16-8, 9-4 MAC) fall a half game behind Ball State (13-10, 9-3 MAC) who defeated Bowling Green Saturday.

Western Michigan seemed off kilter from the start, as senior guard A.J. Johnson grabbed the opening tip but was unable to convert a layup one-on-one. The game seemed to continue to go that way for the Broncos, as Buffalo contested and altered WMU's shots throughout the game.

The Broncos had 21 turnovers and shot less than 30 percent from the floor, hitting only 26.7 percent of their chances in the first half. Western Michigan trailed 27-21 at halftime.

Western Michigan pulled even at 36-36 with 11:07 left in the game, but both sides went on a five minute scoring drought as neither team could capitalize. Junior Alex Morton hit a jumper with 3:55 remaining to give WMU a three-point lead, 44-41, but that would be WMU's last points of the game.

UB surged ahead after Mackenzie Loesing came off a screen and hit a three-pointer, followed by a turnover by Johnson and another three by Buffalo. Jessica Jessing missed a shot under the basket and UB's Alexus Malone scored a fast break layup to put the Bulls up by five with 2:11 left. Buffalo's final five points came from the free throw mine.

“It was one of those games that you hope doesn't happen and you particularly don't hope happens at home,” said WMU head coach Shane Clipfell. “It was like the Toledo game, where we couldn't quite do anything right. Buffalo came out and punched us in our nose and got us on our heels and we never really got back up on our toes. Some of it was what they were doing to us and some of it was what we were doing to ourselves.”

It was just the second home loss for Western Michigan (9-2 at home) this season. Both of those losses were to conference opponents - Toledo and Buffalo.

“Now we are going to be chasing instead of being chased,” Clipfell said in regards to the conference standings. “We have to wait, with a bye on Wednesday, before we play again in a week. I hope the team remembers how we felt in that lockerroom today and comes out with a response I know they are capable of in our next game, which is one the road.”

Western Michigan has a mid-week bye this week and travels to rival Central Michigan (11-12, 6-6 MAC) Saturday, Feb. 21 for a 1 p.m. tip-off. WMU had 1,502 fans at Saturday's annual Pink/Play for Kay game, coming short of the 2,000 attendance number set in for the Pack the House Challenge. If WMU reached 2,000 fans, Clipfell was prepared to dye his hair pink.

Junior Miracle Woods finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Broncos while Johnson had 11 points and seven boards.

Kristen Sharkey led Buffalo (14-9, 7-5 MAC) with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Loesing tallied 12 points and Malone had 10.