KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan men's basketball team tipped off the 2016-17 season with a 90-74 victory over visiting Marygrove College Friday night at University Arena. Four players scored in double figures for the Brown & Gold and two players registered double-doubles.

"It was finally nice to get out there and have one count," WMU head coach Steve Hawkins said of the win. "We have had six preseason games between four games in Europe, a closed scrimmage with UIC and an exhibition with Kalamazoo College. It was good to take the floor and know this one was going to count."

Tucker Haymond made the first game of his senior year certainly count, as he led Western Michigan with 14 points at the half and ended with a game-high 20 points. Haymond also dished out five assists.

The rest of the team began to settle in after the first 10 minutes and WMU had built a 41-31 lead at halftime. While WMU didn't have a particularly good game shooting the ball from the perimeter, the Broncos began to go at the basket and create down low.

After missing the exhibition and coming back from a minor knee injury following the European trip in August, junior center Drake LaMont made his return and looked in good form. LaMont came off the bench to tally 14 points and 11 rebounds in 16 minutes of play.

Freshman forward Brandon Johnson continued to impress and also had a double-double, totaling 12 points and 14 rebounds, with six of those boards coming on the offensive end. Johnson was in the starting lineup and played 24 minutes, matching Haymond for a team high. Wilder was the fourth Bronco to score in double figures with 12 points.

Western Michigan outscored Marygrove in the paint by 30 (48-18) and ran up 21 points on the fast break, as well as 32 points off of turnovers. Shooting was an area where WMU had some let down, as the Broncos connected on just 33 percent in the first half before ending the game at 39 percent. The long ball didn't want to fall throughout the night and WMU was a dismal 4-for-27 from beyond the arc.

"I thought there were two glaring areas that stood out we could improve on," Hawkins said. "Our transition defense wasn't very good and we had an awful night shooting. There were a couple of turnovers where we were trying to get too fancy, but with this group we have a lot to harness out there and I don't want to do that too early.

"I know we can shoot the ball and I feel bad, especially for a few of the new guys who didn't get shots to go. There is a difference between not shooting the ball well and not playing well. And some of the guys that did not shoot well still played well.

"We have a lot of film to watch and there will be a lot of good, and a lot of bad. But the good thing is now we have a reference point."

WMU travels to Rochester, Mich., for its first away game, Monday, Nov. 14, renewing the series with in-state Horizon League counterpart Oakland. Following the Oakland contest, WMU heads to the ESPN Charleston Classic for games on Nov. 17, 18 & 20. The Broncos open the classic against defending national champion Villanova on ESPN2 at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 17.