KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team closes out the 2022-23 regular season on Friday night as it welcomes rival Central Michigan to University Arena for Senior Night. Fans are encouraged to arrive at University Arena early on Friday night, as the Senior Night ceremony is scheduled to begin at 6:45 pm. 
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (7-23, 3-14 MAC) vs Central Michigan (10-20, 5-12)

Date/Time: Friday, March 3 – 7 pm

Site: University Arena (Kalamazoo, Mich.)

Tickets: wmubroncos.com/tickets

Video: ESPN3

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

OPENING TIP

• Western Michigan closes out its 2022-23 regular season on Friday night as it welcomes rival Central Michigan to town.
• Friday night is Senior Night for WMU, who will be honoring the senior trio of Tray Maddox Jr., Lamar Norman Jr. and Tafari Simms prior to tip off.
• The Broncos are coming off of a 77-62 loss to Miami on Tuesday at University Arena.
• Tray Maddox Jr. poured in a game-high 25 points, his highest total as a Bronco. 
• Lamar Norman Jr. hit his 182nd three-pointer as a Bronco, moving him into fourth in WMU program history.
• Western Michigan owns a 94-56 lead in the all-time series against the Chippewas.
• CMU won this season's prior meeting, 70-69, on Jan. 28 in Mount Pleasant. 
• The Broncos own a dominant 50-15 mark against Central Michigan in Kalamazoo. 
• Western Michigan has won back-to-back meetings at University Arena, including a 77-63 win on Feb. 12, 2022.

FINALE FRIDAY
Western Michigan finishes out the regular season on Friday night as it welcomes rival Central Michigan to University Arena.
 
SENIOR NIGHT
Friday night is Senior Night for WMU, with a trio of Broncos set to be honored with a pregame ceremony. Western Michigan will be honoring Tafari Simms, Tray Maddox Jr. and Lamar Norman Jr. prior to the game. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of a 77-62 loss to Miami on Tuesday night which ended WMU's chances of reaching the MAC Tournament. Tray Maddox Jr. led Western Michigan with a game-high 25 points, his highest scoring output in the Brown & Gold. 

RIVALRY RENEWED
Western Michigan owns a 94-56 lead in the all-time series against the Chippewas. The Broncos own a dominant 50-15 mark against Central Michigan in Kalamazoo, and have won back-to-back meetings at University Arena, including a 77-63 win on Feb. 12, 2022. CMU won this season's prior meeting, 70-69, on Jan. 28 in Mount Pleasant. 

WHEN LAST WE MET
In this season's first meeting, Western Michigan led for the vast majority of the game and held a double-digit advantage over CMU for much of the contest. The Chippewas stormed back late however, and clipped the Broncos, 70-69, as Brian Taylor hit the game-winning three-pointer for Central Michigan with five seconds on the clock. Lamar Norman Jr. tallied a game-high 27 points for WMU, while Seth Hubbard (16) and Titus Wright (11) were also in double-figures.

SCOUTING THE CHIPPEWAS
Central Michigan enters Friday night's game on a four-game slide as it tries to reach the MAC Tournament. The Chippewas need to beat the Broncos and have Miami lose at Buffalo to keep their hopes of grabbing the eight seed alive. Reggie Bass has led CMU as of late, as the freshman has been over 20 points in each of his last four games, including 40 points against NIU on Feb. 25.

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 (+4.3) and offensive rebounding (12.2), as well as rank third in the MAC in overall rebounding (36.8). Nationally, the Broncos are 31st in offensive rebounding and 49th in rebounding margin.

MAKING HIS MARK
Markeese Hastings ranks second in the MAC in both total rebounds (274, 27th nationally) and defensive rebounds per game (6.4, 41st), and is third in the conference in rebounds per game (9.1, 31st nationally). The Grand Rapids, Mich., native owns 15 double-digit rebounding performances this season, second-most in the league, and is fourth in the conference with seven double-doubles. 

SCORIN' NORMAN
On Tuesday, Lamar Norman Jr. surpassed 500 points for the season, making him the first Bronco to score 500 or more points in back-to-back seasons since Michael Flowers in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. The senior has scored in double-figures in 54 of his 59 career games as a Bronco and led the team in scoring 40 times during his two seasons in the Brown & Gold. Norman is fifth in the MAC in scoring at 17.3 points per game.

LONG RANGE LAMAR
Lamar Norman Jr. hit his 81st triple of the season on Tuesday, tying him for fifth-most in a single season in Western Michigan program history. The senior also moved into fourth on WMU's career three-pointer list with his 182nd three as a Bronco. This season, his 81 triples are second-most in the MAC (49th nationally), while his 2.8 makes per game are third (44th nationally).

HOT-HAND HUBBARD
Freshman Seth Hubbard has been hot lately from behind the three-point line. In WMU's last eight games, he has hit 16-of-29 (.552) from downtown and averaged 10.9 points. For the season, Hubbard is seventh in the MAC with a .420 three-point percentage. In conference play, he has bumped his percentage to .446, fourth-best in the league. 

389 AND COUNTING
WMU has made at least one three-pointer in 389 straight games dating back to 2011. 

HALFTIME LEADS TURN INTO W'S
The Broncos own a 55-21 record over the last five seasons when leading at halftime, including a 6-1 mark this season.