KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team is back at home again on Saturday afternoon as it hosts Ball State. Saturday features a basketball doubleheader at University Arena, with the WMU women facing Bowling Green at noon, followed by the men's team taking on Ball State at 2:30 pm.
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (6-20, 2-11 MAC) vs Ball State (19-7, 10-3 MAC)

Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 18 – 2:30 pm

Site: University Arena (Kalamazoo, Mich.)

Tickets: wmubroncos.com/tickets

Video: ESPN3

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

OPENING TIP

• Western Michigan continues its homestand on Saturday afternoon as it welcomes Ball State to University Arena. 
• The Broncos are coming off of an 82-58 loss to Kent State on Tuesday night. 
• Lamar Norman Jr. led Western Michigan in scoring with 17 points, while Tray Maddox Jr. chipped in 10 points.  
• Titus Wright had a team-high six rebounds and notched a career-high four blocks.
• As a team, Western Michigan recorded a season-high six blocks on Tuesday. 
• The Broncos enter the weekend atop the MAC in both rebounding margin (+4.8) and offensive rebounding (12.3).
• WMU is 36th in the nation in rebounding margin and 29th in offensive rebounding.
• Saturday marks the 139th meeting between Western Michigan and Ball State.
• The Cardinals lead the series 71-67, and have won seven of the last eight.
• Ball State edged the Broncos, 71-70, at Worthen Arena back on Jan. 17.

SATURDAY DOUBLEHEADER
Saturday is the fourth and final men's and women's basketball doubleheader of the season at University Arena. The WMU women tip-off at noon against Bowling Green, while the men face Ball State at 2:30 pm.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of an 82-58 loss to Kent State on Tuesday at University Arena.Lamar Norman Jr. posted 17 points to lead the Broncos, while Tray Maddox Jr. added 10.

BLOCK PARTY
As a team, Western Michigan set a new season high with six blocked shots on Tuesday against the Golden Flashes. Leading the way for the Broncos was Titus Wright, who notched a career-high four rejections. 

WMU VS BSU
Saturday marks the 139th meeting between Western Michigan and Ball State. The Cardinals lead the series, 71-67, and have won seven of the last eight meetings. These two teams met at Worthen Arena back on Jan. 17, with BSU coming away with a 71-70 win.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Ball State enters Saturday's game on a six-game winning streak and clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament with Tuesday's win over NIU. The Cardinals lead the MAC and rank third nationally in free throw attempts per game (24.7), led by Payton Sparks, whose league-leading 191 free throw attempts are eighth-most in the nation. BSU is also atop the league with a 38.0 percent three-point percentage, which is the 17th-best percentage in the country. 

WHEN LAST WE MET
Ball State edged WMU, 71-70, in the first meeting between the two back on Jan. 17 in Muncie. The Broncos had a pair of chances to win it on the last possession of the contest, but could not get either attempt to fall. Lamar Norman Jr. had his third 30+ point game of the season to lead Western Michigan with 31 points. In the loss, WMU tied a single-game program record for made free throws without a miss, as it went a perfect 17-for-17 from the line for the evening. 

CLEANING THE GLASS
After ranking near the bottom of the MAC in rebounding a season ago, Western Michigan has turned things around to lead the league in rebounding margin (+4.8) and offensive rebounding (12.3), as well as rank third in the MAC in overall rebounding (37.1). Nationally, the Broncos are currently 36th in rebounding margin, 29th in offensive rebounding and 64th in overall rebounding.

MAKING HIS MARK
Markeese Hastings ranks second in the MAC in total rebounds (248, 27th nationally), rebounds per game (9.5, 21st) and defensive rebounds per game (6.7, 22nd). Hastings owns seven double-digit rebounding games this season, second-most in the league.

SCORIN' NORMAN
Lamar Norman Jr. led Western Michigan with 17 points on Tuesday, making it 51 double-digit scoring efforts in his 55 career games as a Bronco. The senior has led WMU in scoring 39 times during his two seasons in the Brown & Gold, and on Feb. 7 at Miami, he became the 45th player to score 1,000 career points at Western Michigan. 

THE WRIGHT STUFF
Junior center Titus Wright has elevated his game in conference play this season, upping his season averages to 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in league play. For the season, Wright is shooting 61.3 percent from the floor, the second-highest mark in the MAC.

385 AND COUNTING
WMU has made at least one three-pointer in 385 straight games dating back to 2011. 

HALFTIME LEADS TURN INTO W'S
The Broncos own a 54-21 record over the last five seasons when leading at halftime, including a 5-1 mark this season.

ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan hits the road next week for its final two road games of the regular season. The Broncos visit Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, Feb. 21, before wrapping up their regular season road schedule next Saturday afternoon, Feb. 25, at Akron.