KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team continues its three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon as it heads down to Athens to take on the Ohio Bobcats. The game is set be streamed live on ESPN3 and the Bronco Media Network.

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (4-18, 0-11 MAC) at Ohio (18-3, 9-1 MAC)

Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 5 – 2 pm

Site: Convocation Center (Athens, Ohio)

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Video: ESPN3

Live Stats: SIDEARM

OPENING TIP

• Western Michigan continues its three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon with a trip down to Athens to face Ohio.
• The Broncos are coming off of a 65-55 loss at Central Michigan on Thursday night. 
• Lamar Norman Jr. led WMU in scoring for the 17th time with 18 points, his 19th consecutive game in double-figures. 
• Norman sits atop the conference at 21.6 points per game in league play.
• Markeese Hastings grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to collect his eighth double-digit rebounding game of the year.
• In MAC play, Hastings is averaging a conference-best 10.6 boards per game.
• Saturday marks the 138th all-time meeting between Western Michigan and Ohio.
• The Bobcats hold a 71-66 edge in the series, and beat Western Michigan 59-47 on New Year's Day at University Arena. 
• The Broncos are 19-49 on their travels to Athens, with WMU's last road victory over the Bobcats coming on Feb. 19, 2014.

SO WE MEET AGAIN
Western Michigan continues its three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon as it travels down to Athens to take on Ohio. This will be the second meeting this season between the Broncos and Bobcats, with OU the first team WMU has faced a second time. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of a 65-55 loss at Central Michigan on Thursday night. WMU got off to a quick start, getting a pair of triples from Josiah Freeman on the way to a 10-2 start. Defensively during that stretch, the Broncos held CMU without a point for six minutes, and without a field goal for nearly seven minutes. Near the midway point of the second half, the Chippewas reeled off an 8-0 run to move in front for the first time, and the hosts never relinquished the lead.

WMU VS OHIO
Saturday marks the 138th all-time meeting between Western Michigan and Ohio. The Bobcats hold a 71-66 edge in the series, including a 59-47 victory back on New Year's Day at University Arena. The Broncos are 19-49 on their travels to Athens, and have dropped their last five visits to OU. Western Michigan's last road win over Ohio was a 73-63 Bronco triumph on Feb. 19, 2014.

EARLIER THIS SEASON
Back on New Year's Day, Ohio came away with a 59-47 victory at University Arena. The teams went back-and-forth throughout much of the first half, with OU's Tommy Schmock hitting a half-court heave at the buzzer to send the Bobcats into the locker room with a 28-24 edge. Ohio continued the momentum into the second half, and slowly pulled away from the Broncos. Lamar Norman Jr. and Mark Sears led their resepective teams with 21 points apiece.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Ohio knocked off Eastern Michigan 81-68 on Thursday for its fourth straight win. Mark Sears ranks third in the MAC in scoring at 19.6 points per game, and is also inside the top-10 in the league in assists (6th, 3.9), steals (4th, 1.7), free throw percentage (2nd, .905) and three-point percentage (T-5, .411).

SCORIN' NORMAN
Western Michigan newcomer Lamar Norman Jr. ranks second in the MAC at 19.8 points per game, and leads the conference in league play at 21.6 points per contest. With his 18 points on Thursday, the junior extended his streak of double-digit scoring games to 19 in a row. Norman has scored 20+ points in seven of the 10 conference games he's played in, and he has 11 total games of 20 or more points, second-most in the conference. He leads the league with 3.3 made three-pointers per game. 

MAKING HIS MARK
Fellow newcomer Markeese Hastings ranks in the top-10 of the conference in several categories as well, including rebounding (2nd, 8.8), offensive rebounding (3rd, 3.3), defensive rebounding (3rd, 5.6) and field goal percentage (8th, .497). In MAC play, Hastings is leading the conference at 10.6 rebounds per game, and his 18 rebounds at Toledo on Dec. 29 remains the highest single-game total by a MAC player this season.

THE GODWIN HEIGHTS CONNECTION
Former Godwin Heights HS teammates Lamar Norman Jr. and Markeese Hastings are all over the MAC leaderboards and climbing in the national rankings as well. Norman ranks 25th nationally in points per game (19.8), 26th in total points (415), 31st in made field goals (148), 11th in made threes per game (3.3) and 14th in total threes made (70). Hastings sits 33rd in rebounds per game (8.8), 26th in total rebounds (194) and 28th in offensive rebounds per game (3.3).

CHASING 1500
Coming into Saturday's game, WMU senior guard Mack Smith sits on 1494 career points, six shy of 1500. The Eastern Illinois transfer enters the weekend tied for 98th on the NCAA DI active scoring leaders list.

351 AND COUNTING
WMU has made at least one three-pointer in 351 straight games dating back to 2011. 

ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan wraps up its three-game road trip on Tuesday evening at Miami.