KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team returns to University Arena on Thursday night as it welcomes Goshen College to town for its 2022-23 season opener. 
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (0-1) vs Goshen College (1-3)

Date/Time: Thursday, Nov. 10 – 7 pm

Site: University Arena (Kalamazoo, Mich.)

Tickets: wmubroncos.com/tickets

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Video: ESPN+

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

OPENING TIP

• After a one-point loss at Minnesota to open up the 2022-23 season on Monday night, Western Michigan begins its home slate on Thursday as Goshen College comes to University Arena. 
• The Broncos have won 11 straight home openers coming into Thursday. 
• Lamar Norman Jr. paced WMU with 15 points and four assists on Monday night.
• Markeese Hastings pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, the 12th double-digit rebounding game of his career. 
• Seven players made their Bronco debut in the season opener against Minnesota. 
• True freshman Seth Hubbard led the newcomers with 13 points and five steals. 
• Thursday's game marks the first all-time meeting between WMU and Goshen.
• The Maple Leafs come into Thursday with a 1-3 mark on their young season and will be playing the game as an exhibition.
• Goshen is set to face another MAC opponent on Saturday as it takes on Miami. 

HOME SWEET HOME
Western Michigan begins its 2022-23 home slate on Thursday as Goshen College comes to University Arena. The Broncos have won 11 consecutive home openers. The last time WMU did not prevail in its home opener was in 2010-11, when it fell to Loyola Chicago. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of a 61-60 season-opening setback at Minnesota on Monday night. The Broncos trailed by eight in the final minute, but took advantage of missed free throws to close the gap. Lamar Norman Jr. hit a three-pointer to cut the margin to one, but it came as time expired to leave WMU's rally one point short. 

NEW YEAR, NEW FACES
A total of seven players made their debuts for Western Michigan on Monday night. Tray Maddox Jr. and Tafari Simms appeared in their first game as Broncos after arriving via the transfer portal, while true freshmen Max Burton, JaVaughn Hannah, Seth Hubbard and Jefferson Monegro all made their collegiate debuts. Jack Stefanski also saw his first collegiate action after redshirting last season. 

BRONCO BALANCE
The Broncos got contributions from up and down the roster on Monday, with nine of the 11 players who saw time scoring, and 10 of the 11 securing at least one rebound. 

FRESHMEN FUELED
Of the 11 players who saw action on Monday, five were either true or redshirt freshmen, with a pair of true freshman (JaVaughn Hannah and Jefferson Monegro) among Western Michigan's starting five. Freshmen accounted for 23 of WMU's 60 points (38.3%), led by Seth Hubbard's 13. 

A TURN(OVER) FOR THE BETTER
Western Michigan's defense had a strong showing on Monday, forcing 16 Minnesota turnovers. The 16 turnovers equaled the highest total forced by the Broncos all of last season. Western Michigan was plus-six (16-10) in turnover margin for the evening, its best turnover margin since it was plus-eight (15-7) at Toledo on Jan. 11, 2020. 

CLEANING THE GLASS
The Broncos crashed the offensive glass hard against the Golden Gophers, pulling down 17 offensive rebounds. The 17 offensive boards matched last year's season high.

BENCH BOOST
Western Michigan's bench outscored the Minnesota bench 26-10 on Monday, with Seth Hubbard's 13 leading the reserve unit. 

MR. CONSISTENCY
After leading the MAC in scoring last season, Lamar Norman Jr. picked up right where he left on Monday night, pacing WMU with 15 points. Since arriving from Duquesne prior to last season, Norman has scored in double-figures in 29 of his 31 games as a Bronco, and led WMU in scoring 26 times. 

MAKING HIS MARK
Also picking up where he left off last year was Markeese Hastings, who finished second in the conference in rebounding during the 2021-22 campaign at 8.8 per game. On Monday, the redshirt junior snared a game-high 10 rebounds for Western Michigan. It marked the 12th double-digit rebounding game for Hastings in his collegiate career. 

FULL PLATE NOVEMBER
The Broncos are in the midst of a busy month to start the season, as they open the campaign with eight games in the month of November, making it one game shy of its busiest month of the season (WMU will play nine times in January). The first two weeks in particular are packed, as Western Michigan will play six games, just one of which will be at home, in the season's first two weeks. 

361 AND COUNTING
WMU has made at least one three-pointer in 361 straight games dating back to 2011. 

HALFTIME LEADS TURN INTO W'S
WMU owns a 49-20 record over the last five seasons when leading going into halftime.

ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan begins a stretch of four in a row away from home on Sunday as it travels to Valparaiso for a 5 pm tip.