KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team dropped its Mid-American Conference opener to Buffalo, 88-71, on Saturday afternoon at University Arena.
 
Jalen Griffith paced the Broncos (5-7, 0-1 MAC) with 18 points, while Hudson Ward (13) and Jayden Brewer (12) were also in double-figures for WMU. Ward's 13 points established a new career-best. Brewer led the Brown and Gold on the glass with seven rebounds, while EJ Ryans handed out a team-high six assists.
 
After a pair of early three-pointers gave Western Michigan a 6-2 edge in the game's first few minutes, Buffalo (10-2, 1-0) used an 18-2 surge to climb into the lead, 20-8. The Broncos countered with a 9-3 stretch to whittle the margin to six, 23-17. UB came right back with 10 of the next 11 as part of an 18-6 extended run, which pushed the visitors' advantage to 41-23. WMU tallied the final five points of the period to trim the gap to 41-28 at halftime.   
 
Buffalo's lead stayed between 13 and 16 until a Michael Sulaka jumper and Ward triple brought the Broncos back to within 10, 51-41. The Bulls ran off the next seven in a row, but Western Michigan answered with seven straight of its own, culminating in a Brewer old-fashioned, three-point play, which made it 58-48 at the halfway mark of the period. The Brown and Gold briefly worked their way back to within nine multiple times, including at 73-64, but a 9-2 UB response pushed the margin back into double-digits for the remainder of the contest.
 
WMU connected on 39.4 percent (26-of-66) from the field for the afternoon, while the Bulls shot 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from the floor.
 
Western Michigan continues its holiday homestand on Monday afternoon as it welcomes Defiance College to town for a 1 pm tip. For tickets to any WMU men's basketball home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.