KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team begins a stretch of three consecutive road games on Tuesday night at Northern Illinois.
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (8-12, 2-6 MAC) at NIU (6-13, 2-6)

Date/Time: Tuesday, Jan. 27 – 8 pm

Site: Convocation Center (DeKalb, Ill.)

Video: ESPN+

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Live Stats: SIDEARM

OPENING TIP

• Western Michigan begins a three-game road swing on Tuesday evening as it travels to DeKalb to face Northern Illinois.
• The Broncos are coming off of a 77-65 win over rival Central Michigan in front of a crowd of 4,776 at University Arena. 
• Jayden Brewer led the way with his fifth double-double of the season, collecting 20 points and 11 rebounds.
• EJ Ryans and Justice Williams joined Brewer in double-figures with 15 and 14 points, respectively. 
• Western Michigan was plus-four in turnover margin, forcing 11 CMU turnovers and committing just seven miscues.
• The Broncos come into Tuesday's contest with a 65-38 lead in the all-time series between the two programs.
• Western Michigan has won three straight in the series, including sweeping the two games from the Huskies last season.
• It was the first season sweep for the Broncos over NIU since the 2013-14 campaign.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Western Michigan begins a stretch of three consecutive road games on Tuesday evening as it travels to DeKalb, Ill., for its lone regular season meeting with Northern Illinois. WMU held a 5-4 road mark in conference play last season, its first winning record on the road in the MAC since 2013-14, but has dropped its first three league road tilts this year at Toledo, Miami and Akron.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos are coming off of a 77-65 victory over rival Central Michigan in front of a crowd of 4,776 on Saturday night at University Arena. Jayden Brewer paced Western Michigan with 20 points and 11 rebounds to notch his fifth double-double of the season. Joining Brewer in double-figures were EJ Ryans and Justice Williams, who netted 15 and 14 points, respectively.

LET JAYDEN BREW
Jayden Brewer led the charge for Western Michigan in Saturday's victory over CMU, posting team highs in both points (20) and rebounds (11) to collect his fifth double-double of the season. The FIU transfer is WMU's leading rebounder at 7.3 per game, which ranks seventh in the MAC, and is the team's second-leading scorer among qualifiers at 13.3 points per contest.

JUST IN TIME
Justice Williams scored in double-figures for the fourth straight game and sixth time in his first seven as a Bronco on Saturday, nailing four three-pointers on the way to 14 points against Central Michigan. The redshirt senior is averaging 18.6 points per contest in MAC play, which ranks eighth in the league.

BALANCED BRONCOS
Western Michigan has featured a balanced attack all season long, with 11 different Broncos having scored in double-figures at least once, and five having posted at least one game with 20 or more points. Leading the charge with 12 double-digit scoring performances is Jayden Brewer, with Jalen Griffith right behind him with 11. Six different players have been WMU's top scorer in a game this season, led by Griffith, who has done so eight times. 

BENCH BOOST
WMU's depth of scoring has led it to having one of the top bench units in the nation. Entering this week, the Brown and Gold rank third in the conference and 49th in NCAA Division I at 29.6 bench points per game. Nine different players have scored in double-figures in a game off of the Bronco bench, with Jayden Brewer, Jalen Griffith, Brady Swartz (twice) and Justice Williams all having posted a 20-plus point scoring performance off of the bench this season.

CLEANING THE GLASS
Always a strong suit under head coach Dwayne Stephens, WMU continues to rank among the best rebounding teams in the conference, coming into Tuesday fourth in the league in overall rebounding at 37.5 per game. Jayden Brewer and Max Burton are one of two pairs of teammates who each rank in the top-10 in the league in rebounding, with Brewer seventh at 7.3 per game and Burton tied for 10th with 6.2 per contest.

SERIES HISTORY
WMU comes into Tuesday's matchup with a 65-38 advantage in the all-time series with Northern Illinois. The Broncos have won three consecutive matchups, including sweeping the two meetings last season for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign. Tuesday marks the final regular season matchup between these two long-time conference foes before NIU leaves the MAC following the 2025-26 academic year.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Northern Illinois comes into Tuesday night tied with the Broncos in the MAC standings at 2-6, one game behind a tie for eighth. The Huskies are one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the nation, leading the conference and ranking 26th nationally with 13.6 offensive rebounds per game. NIU has struggled offensively in league play, ranking last in the MAC in scoring (66.8 PPG), field goal percentage (.401) and three-point percentage (.281) against conference foes.

THE ROAD AHEAD
After having its second bye of MAC play this coming weekend, Western Michigan hits the road again next Tuesday night to face Ohio.