KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan men's basketball team couldn't slow down Mid-American Conference leader Akron in the first half, falling to the Zips Tuesday, 90-80.
The loss was just WMU's second in eight home games and snapped a four-game winning streak at University Arena.
The Zips entered the game ranked No. 6 in the nation for three-pointers made per game and were dialed in from the opening tip. Akron hit 9 of its first 12 shots from deep, racing out to a 23-point lead midway through the first half. The Broncos trailed by 16 at halftime, 50-34.
Western Michigan worked at Akron's lead in the second half, whittling the deficit down to single digits with two minutes left to play. Akron however kept at least an eight-point distance between the two to close out the game. WMU outscored the Zips in the second half, 46-40.
Junior point guard Thomas Wilder led Western Michigan with 12 points at the half. He put up a game-high 25 points and four assists before fouling out with 1:16 remaining. It was his third 20-plus performance in the last four games. Wilder has now scored in double digits in 18 of 19 games played this season.
Tucker Haymond, Brandon Johnson and Reggie Jones each had 14 points. Haymond and Johnson also grabbed six rebounds apiece while Jones dished out five assists. Jones found Johnson for a highlight alley-oop dunk in the first half.
Coming off a double-double last game at Buffalo, Seth Dugan made his first start since Nov. 20. He collected a team-high nine rebounds and had four points.
Kwan Cheatham Jr. led Akron with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Four other Zips scored in double figures.
After hitting nine three's early, the Zips finished 12-for-23 from the arc. Akron shot nearly 55 percent from the floor, Western Michigan shot 42 percent, going 7-for-16 from three.
Akron remains undefeated in league play at 7-0 and pushed its overall record to 17-3. WMU dropped to 6-13 overall and 2-5 in the MAC.
Western Michigan travels to Ball State this Saturday, Jan. 28 for the first of two meetings against the Cardinals this season. Tip-off from Muncie, Ind., is at 1 p.m. The Broncos return to University Arena to host Ohio next Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. The Ball State contest will be aired on ESPN3, while the Ohio matchup will be carried on the American Sports Network (ASN) and ESPN3.
