KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team cut what was at one point a 17-point deficit all the way down to four, but could not quite complete the comeback in an 85-76 loss to Buffalo on Saturday afternoon at University Arena.  
 
Trailing by 11, 69-58, Western Michigan (6-17, 2-8 MAC) put together a 6-1 stretch to close to within six, 70-64, with 4:40 to play. WMU drew within five, 76-71, on a JaVaughn Hannah layup with 1:20 to go, then shrunk the gap to four, 78-74, as Lamar Norman Jr. converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 42 ticks remaining. After a pair of UB free throws, Norman got the Broncos within four again at 80-76, but Buffalo (11-12, 5-5) closed out the game from there at the free throw line.
 
Tray Maddox Jr. led the Broncos in scoring with 21 points for the afternoon. The senior added a team-high six rebounds as well as five assists. Norman scored all 19 of his points in the second half, and matched Maddox with five assists of his own. Titus Wright (11) and Tafari Simms (10) also scored in double-figures for WMU.
 
The Broncos got three-pointers from Maddox and Simms to grab a 10-5 advantage in the early stages of the game. Five straight points helped Buffalo even the score at 18-18 just past the midway point of the period.
 
With just over six minutes to play in the opening stanza, Buffalo held a one-point edge, 25-24. The visitors then ripped off a 14-0 run to boost the margin to 15, 39-24. Simms hit another three in the final seconds to make it 39-27 Bulls heading into the break.
 
Buffalo tallied six of the first seven points after halftime to grab their largest lead of the afternoon, 45-28, with 17:06 on the clock. Western Michigan began to slowly chip away at UB's advantage, with Norman canning his third triple of the second half at the 12:24 mark to bring the Broncos to within nine, 54-45. The Bulls quickly answered with the next five points to boost their advantage back to 14, 59-45. WMU clawed its way back to within nine on a couple of occasions before marking its late charge in the final minutes.
 
The Broncos connected on 27-of-62 (43.5 percent) of their field goals in the contest, including 11 three-pointers. The Bulls made 29-of-58 (50.0 percent) from the field. Led by Maddox and Simms, WMU held a 37-16 advantage in bench points.
 
Western Michigan hits the road for its next two games, starting on Tuesday at Miami. The Broncos and RedHawks are slated for a 7 pm tip on ESPN+.
 
WMU returns to University Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 14, for a rematch against Kent State. Game time is set for 7 pm. To purchase tickets to any Western Michigan men's basketball home game this season, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.

Postgame Press Conference with head coach Dwayne Stephens: