KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team closes out its regular season road schedule on Saturday as it heads to Muncie, Ind., for a critical matchup against Ball State
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (10-18, 7-8 MAC) at Ball State (14-14, 6-9)

Date/Time: Saturday, March 2 – 2 pm

Site: Worthen Arena (Muncie, Ind.)

Video: ESPN+

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Live Stats: SIDEARM

OPENING TIP

• Western Michigan travels to Ball State on Saturday afternoon for its final road game of the 2023-24 regular season. 
• The Broncos are coming off of a 70-67 loss at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday night.
• JaVaughn Hannah hit a career-high six three-pointers in the contest to lead WMU with a season-high tying 18 points.
• As a team, Western Michigan combined to hit 13 triples, its third consecutive game with at least 11 three-pointers.
• Seth Hubbard made it two straight games a Bronco posted a 10-5-5 line, as he had 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
• Ball State holds a 72-68 edge in the all-time series between the two teams.
• The Cardinals won the season's first meeting, 77-67, back on Feb. 3 in Kalamazoo.
• BSU owns a 43-23 all-time mark against the Broncos in Muncie.
• WMU has dropped its last four trips to Worthen Arena, with its last road victory in the series coming on Feb. 23, 2018.

END OF THE ROAD
Western Michigan wraps up its regular season road schedule on Saturday afternoon as it visits Ball State. The Broncos will spend the final week of the regular season at home, with Bowling Green coming to Kalamazoo on Tuesday and Akron in town on Friday. 

LAST TIME OUT
WMU dropped a close one at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday night, falling late to the Eagles, 70-67. JaVaughn Hannah hit a career-high six three-pointers to lead the four Broncos in double-figures with 18 points.

HANNAH HEATS UP
JaVaughn Hannah got hot on Tuesday at EMU, as he went 6-for-10 from downtown to tie his season high with a team-high 18 points. The six three-pointers were a new career high for the sophomore, who is the fourth different Bronco to make at least six triples in a game this season, joining Seth Hubbard, Owen Lobsinger and B. Artis White. 

THE 10-5-5 CLUB
Seth Hubbard filled up the stat sheet for WMU on Tuesday as he collected 12 points, a career-high tying eight rebounds and five assists. It marked the second straight game a Bronco had a 10-5-5 game, after B. Artis White did it for the second time this season in last Saturday's win over Buffalo. 

BALANCED BRONCOS
For the third consecutive game and the 10th time overall this season, Western Michigan had four players score in double-figures on Tuesday at Eastern. JaVaughn Hannah led the way with 18 points, Javonte Brown added 16 points and Seth Hubbard and Owen Lobsinger chipped in 12 points apiece.

CLEANING THE GLASS
Led by Anthony Crump (9th, 6.2) and Owen Lobsinger (10th, 6.1), Western Michigan ranks second in the MAC in overall rebounding (37.5), third in rebounding margin (+2.4) and leads the conference in offensive rebounding (12.5). The 12.5 offensive rebounds per game rank 36th nationally. Crump and Lobsinger have helped the Broncos take things up a notch in league play, as WMU is second in the MAC in both total rebounds (38.7) and rebounding margin (+4.1), while pacing the league in offensive boards at 12.7. 

DIALING LONG DISTANCE
The Broncos hit 13 three-pointers on Tuesday at Eastern, their third straight game with at least 11 triples. Western Michigan is up to third in league games with 8.5 made three-pointers per game, with Seth Hubbard (3rd, 2.5), B. Artis White (10th, 2.0) and Owen Lobsinger (15th, 1.7) all inside the top-15 in the MAC. Lobsinger is also ninth in the conference in three-point percentage at .397. WMU has made at least one three-pointer in 419 straight games dating back to 2011. 

SHARING IS CARING
Western Michigan enters the weekend fourth in the conference in assists (13.6) per game, led by the duo of Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (6th, 3.3) and B. Artis White (7th, 3.3). The duo is also near the top in assist-to-turnover ratio, with De La Cruz Monegro third (1.72) and White fourth (1.66). In MAC play, White (5th, 3.6) is slightly ahead of De La Cruz Monegro (6th, 3.5) in assists.

SERIES HISTORY
Ball State holds a 72-68 edge in the all-time series between the two programs. The series has generally been dominated by the home team, with the Cardinals holding a 43-23 all-time mark against the Broncos in Muncie. Western Michigan is looking to halt a four-game slide at Worthen Arena, with its last road win over BSU coming on Feb. 23, 2018. 

WHEN LAST WE MET
These two teams met just under a month ago in Kalamazoo, with the Cardinals claiming a 77-67 victory. Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro tied his career high with 21 points that afternoon, while JaVaughn Hannah contributed 18 points and Owen Lobsinger had 17. Ball State limited WMU to 22 first-half points, and despite shooting 50.0 percent after halftime, the Broncos were not able to rally. 

HOMEWARD BOUND
The Broncos finish out the regular season next week with home games against Bowling Green (March 5) and Akron (March 8).