KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team continues a stretch of four in a row away from home this weekend as it heads down to Houston for the Owl Invitational. The Broncos are set for three games in three days against Houston Christian, Rice and Georgia Southern.
 

GAME INFO - FRIDAY

Matchup: Western Michigan (1-2) at Houston Christian (1-2)

Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 18 – 8 pm (EST)

Site: Sharp Gym (Houston, Texas)

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Video: ESPN+

Live Stats: SIDEARM

GAME INFO - SATURDAY

Matchup: Western Michigan at Rice

Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 19 – 6 pm (EST)

Site: Tudor Fieldhouse (Houston, Texas)

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Video: CUSA.TV

Live Stats: SIDEARM

GAME INFO - SUNDAY

Matchup: Western Michigan vs. Georgia Southern

Date/Time: Sunday, Nov. 20 – 1 pm (EST)

Site: Tudor Fieldhouse (Houston, Texas)

Radio: Bronco Radio Network

Live Stats: SIDEARM

OPENING TIP

• Western Michigan continues its stretch of four straight away from home with three games in three days down at the Owl Invitational in Houston, Texas. 
• The Broncos have never faced any of this weekend's opponents before. 
• WMU is coming off of an 81-65 loss last Sunday evening at Valparaiso.
• Lamar Norman Jr. led the Broncos with 25 points, while Tray Maddox Jr. added 16 points off of the WMU bench. 
• Titus Wright pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds to tie his career high.
• WMU enters the weekend atop the MAC in offensive rebounding (14.0/game)
• Western Michigan is 3-6 all-time against teams from the state of Texas.
• The most recent game for the Broncos against a team from Texas was a neutral site loss to UTEP on Nov. 26, 2015.
• Western Michigan has not played a game in the state of Texas since beating Sam Houston 65-62 on Nov. 25, 2008.

THE ROAD AHEAD
Western Michigan continues its stretch of four in a row away from home with three games in three days at the Owl Invitational in Houston, Texas. The Broncos begin play on Friday night at Houston Christian, visit Rice on Saturday evening and then face Georgia Southern on Sunday afternoon. The next home game for Western Michigan is set for Nov. 26 against Cleveland State. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of an 81-65 loss at Valparaiso last Sunday. Lamar Norman Jr. paced the Western Michigan offense with a season-high 25 points, while Tray Maddox Jr. pitched in with 16 off of the bench. After trailing for much of the contest, WMU got within two, 54-52, with roughly 13 minutes to play. The Broncos had two chances to tie or take the lead, but Valpo got a pair of defensive stops, and an old-fashioned three-point play ignited a 15-3 run which put the game beyond Western Michigan's reach. 

THE WRIGHT STUFF
Titus Wright grabbed 12 rebounds for the Broncos in Sunday's setback at Valpo. The junior's 12 boards equaled his career high and marked the most rebounds by a WMU player thus far in 2022-23. Western Michigan has had a double-digit rebounder in each of its first three games, with Markeese Hastings posting 10 in each of the first two contests. 

BRONCOS IN TEXAS
Western Michigan is making its first trip to Texas since a 65-62 win at Sam Houston on Nov., 25, 2008. The most recent WMU contest against a team from Texas was a neutral site loss to UTEP in Nashville, Tenn., on Nov. 26, 2015. The Broncos own a 3-6 mark all-time against teams from the Lone Star State. 

THE OPPONENTS
This weekend, WMU is set to face a trio of opponents that it has never previously met in Houston Christian, Rice and Georgia Southern. Like the Broncos, each of their three opponents enter the Owl Invitational 1-2 on the young season. HCU and Georgia Southern are coming off of wins, while Rice lost to Middle Tennessee back on Tuesday. 

BENCH BOOST
WMU has gotten a big boost from its bench in its first three games, with its reserve unit outscoring its opponents' benches 93-45 so far this season. The Broncos have gotten double-digit scoring games off of the bench from four different players, Gus Etchison, Seth Hubbard, Tray Maddox Jr. and Tafari Simms. 

CLEANING THE GLASS
The Broncos have been strong in the rebounding department thus far this season, winning the rebounding battle in two of their first three games. WMU ranks second in the MAC in both total rebounds (42.3) and rebounding margin (+9.0) and is atop the league in offensive rebounding, averaging 14.0 offense boards per game thus far. 

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 16.7 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 31 of his 33 games as a Bronco, and led WMU in scoring 27 times. 

CLOSING IN ON 1,000
After netting 25 points on Sunday at Valparaiso, Lamar Norman Jr. has 975 points in his collegiate career, meaning he is 25 away from 1,000. Norman scored 333 points in 61 games over three seasons at Duquesne, and has totaled 644 since arriving in Kalamazoo prior to the 2021-22 season. 

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. 

363 AND COUNTING
After making five three's against Valpo, WMU has made at least one three-pointer in 363 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.