KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Following its first win of the Dwayne Stephens era on Thursday night, the Western Michigan men's basketball team heads back out on the road on Sunday as it visits Valparaiso. 
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (1-1) at Valparaiso (0-1)

Date/Time: Sunday, Nov. 13 – 5 pm (EST)

Site: Athletics-Recreation Center (Valparaiso, Ind.)

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Video: ESPN+

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

OPENING TIP

• Western Michigan begins a stretch of four in a row away from home on Sunday as it heads to Valparaiso. 
• First-year head coach Dwayne Stephens picked up his first win on Thursday as the Broncos beat Goshen College, 99-62. 
• Six players scored in double-figures for WMU, with Tafari Simms and Titus Wright notching a team-high 13 points apiece. 
• Western Michigan tied a single-game program record on Thursday night, as it totaled 24 assists.
• Gus Etchison had a team-high five helpers to tie his career high. 
• Markeese Hastings picked up his fifth career double-double (12 points, 10 boards) 
• WMU and Valpo are meeting for the second straight season after the Beacons won 71-60 in Kalamazoo last December.  
• The Broncos hold a 40-28 lead in the all-time series against Valparaiso. 
• Western Michigan's last win at Valpo was an 87-74 triumph on Dec. 5, 1989. 

THE ROAD AHEAD
Western Michigan begins a stretch of four straight away from home on Sunday as it travels to Valparaiso. The Broncos will follow that up with a trip to Houston for road games against Houston Christian and Rice, and a neutral site tilt against Georgia Southern. The next home game for WMU is set for Nov. 26 against Cleveland State. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos opened up their home slate with a 99-62 win over Goshen College on Thursday at University Arena. WMU handed out a single-game record-tying 24 assists, with six different Broncos scoring in double-figures, to extend their winning streak in home openers to 12 in a row. 

STEPHENS COLLECTS FIRST WIN
After totaling nearly 600 wins in 25 seasons as an assistant coach at Oakland, Marquette and Michigan State, WMU's Dwayne Stephens collected his first win as a head coach on Thursday night against Goshen. 

SHARING IS CARING
Western Michigan racked up 24 assists in Thursday's win, tying a single-game program record. Gus Etchison was the leading distributor for the Broncos, as the sophomore tied his career high with five assists.

BRONCO BALANCE
A total of 13 Broncos saw the court on Thursday night, with 12 of them making at least one basket and six scoring in double-figures. WMU also had 12 players grab at least one rebound and 10 pick up an assist. 

A VIEW ON VALPO
Valparaiso is coming off of a season-opening 85-70 loss at Toledo on Monday. Quinton Green paced Valpo with 20 points, while Ben Krikke added 18 points and 13 rebounds.  

FAMILIAR FOE
After not having played since 2007, the Broncos and Beacons are meeting for the second straight season on Sunday. Last season, Valpo picked up a 71-60 win over Western Michigan at University Arena. WMU owns a 40-28 edge in the all-time series. 

WHEN LAST WE MET
Last season, Valparaiso collected a 71-60 win in Kalamazoo over Western Michigan. Thomas Kithier scored a game-high 19 points for the Beacons, while Lamar Norman Jr. led the three Broncos in double-figures with 13. 

BENCH BOOST
WMU has gotten a big boost from its bench in its first two games, with its reserve unit outscoring its opponents' bench 73-32 so far this season. Gus Etchison, Seth Hubbard and Tafari Simms have each had a double-digit scoring game off of the Bronco bench. 

SCORIN' NORMAN
After leading the MAC in scoring last season, Lamar Norman Jr. has picked up right where he left off, pacing the Broncos with 12.5 points per game in the season's first two games. Since arriving from Duquesne prior to last season, Norman has scored in double-figures in 30 of his 32 games as a Bronco, and led WMU in scoring 26 times. 

MAKING HIS MARK
Also picking up where he left off last year has been Markeese Hastings, who finished second in the league in rebounding during the 2021-22 campaign at 8.8 per game. Hastings has snared 10 boards in each of the first two games this season, including notching his fifth career double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) in Thursday's win over Goshen. 

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. 

362 AND COUNTING
WMU has made at least one three-pointer in 362 straight games dating back to 2011. 

HALFTIME LEADS TURN INTO W'S
WMU owns a 50-20 record over the last five seasons when leading going into halftime.

ON THE HORIZON
WMU hits the road again next weekend as it heads to Houston for the Owl Invitational and three games in three days against Houston Christian, Rice and Georgia Southern.