KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team opens up its 2026-27 home schedule on Thursday evening as it welcomes Kalamazoo College to University Arena.
 

GAME INFO

Matchup: Western Michigan (0-1) vs Kalamazoo College (0-0, 0-0)

Date/Time: Thursday, Nov. 5 – 7 pm

Site: University Arena (Kalamazoo, Mich.)

Tickets: wmubroncos.com/tickets

Video: ESPN+

Radio: Bronco Media Network

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

OPENING TIP

• Western Michigan returns to University Arena on Thursday to open up its home schedule against Kalamazoo College.
• The Broncos have won 14 of their last 15 home openers. 
• Western Michigan opened up the 2026-27 campaign with a 61-49 loss at Old Dominion on Monday night. 
• Monday's game marked the debut for new Western Michigan head coach Kahil Fennell as well as 10 new players.
• Augustinas Kiudulas paced the Brown and Gold with 12 points at ODU. 
• Tanner Hayhurst led the team on the glass with seven rebounds and Jaylen Washington handed out a team-high five assists.
• The Broncos have met the Hornets in an exhibition game for five straight seasons, but have never faced their neighbors in a regular season game until Thursday.
• Thursday's contest is the final tune-up for the Hornets before their regular season begins on Saturday at Capital University. 

WELCOME HOME
Western Michigan opens up its final season playing its home games at University Arena on Thursday night as it welcomes in Kalamazoo College. The Broncos have won 14 of their last 15 home openers.

LAST TIME OUT
The new era of Western Michigan basketball officially tipped off on Monday night, with the Brown and Gold falling, 61-49, at Old Dominion in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. Trailing by six at halftime, the Broncos opened up the second half with a 13-0 run, holding ODU without a point for the frame's first five minutes. The Monarchs countered with a 14-4 run and then used an 11-1 stretch to put the game away. Augustinas Kiudulas paced the Broncos with 12 points in the contest, while Tanner Hayhurst led the way on the glass with seven rebounds.  

BRAND NEW BRONCOS
Monday's game was the debut for new WMU head coach Kahil Fennell as well as for all 10 Broncos who saw the floor in the contest. Coach Fennell brought a total of 14 newcomers to the program after Western Michigan was one of six squads in NCAA Division I with zero returners from the 2025-26 campaign. Also among the teams with zero returners were Campbell, Kansas City, Mississippi Valley State, Northern Illinois and Rider.

FOLLOWING FENNELL
To start his rebuild of the program, new WMU head coach Kahil Fennell brought a pair of guards with him from UTRGV in junior Jaylen Washington and sophomore Julien Gomez. Both entered the starting lineup for the Vaqueros in the latter stages of the season, and helped the team go 14-7 down the stretch. The duo were then the first two players to sign on with Coach Fennell once he arrived in Kalamazoo. Senior Tanner Hayhurst also had a lot of familiarity with Fennell, having started his career with a pair of seasons at BYU while Fennell was serving as an assistant coach under Mark Pope.

STAFF CONTINUITY
In addition to bringing three players he had coached before at the collegiate level, Coach Fennell brought most of his staff from UTRGV with him to Western Michigan. Assistant coaches Dustin Yoder, Cam Clark and Michael Provenzano, as well as strength & conditioning coach Lucas Monroe and director of basketball operations Adam Howard all made the journey north to Kalamazoo. The lone assistant coach to join from elsewhere is Bobby Horodyski, who helped lead Queens University in Charlotte to its first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance in its first year of eligibility last season. Horodyski and Fennell worked together previously on Mark Pope's staff at BYU.

RUNNING THE POINT
Jaylen Washington took over as the starting point guard for UTRGV in the second half of last season, and helped guide the Vaqueros to a 14-7 record down the stretch. He ranked sixth in the Southland Conference with 4.2 assists per game in 2025-26, and led the league while ranking 39th in NCAA Division I with a 2.85 assist-to-turnover ratio. Washington then followed head coach Kahil Fennell to Kalamazoo and shined in his debut, posting a team-leading five assists while committing just one turnover. The junior also filled the stats sheet with nine points, four rebounds and a pair of steals at ODU.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE
WMU enters Thursday's game having made at least one three-pointer in 487 straight games, dating back to the 2010-11 season. The Broncos hit eight three-pointers on 20 attempts (40.0%) on Monday at Old Dominion, with Tanner Hayhurst (2-3), Augustinas Kiudulas (2-3) and Jaylen Washington (2-4) each hitting a pair of triples.

SERIES HISTORY
Western Michigan and Kalamazoo College have met in an exhibition game during each of the last five seasons and 17 of the last 18. The only season the two neighbors did not meet in an exhibition contest during that span was the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign. Despite their proximity, the Broncos have never played the Hornets in a regular season game until Thursday. Kalamazoo is playing the contest as an exhibition before beginning its regular season on Saturday. 

ON THE HORIZON
Western Michigan continues its homestand on Sunday afternoon as it welcomes Campbell to University Arena for a 2 pm tip.