After falling to Akron 71-68, BGSU men’s basketball (5-8, 0-1) will face Western Michigan (3-10, 0-1) in their second Mid-American Conference (MAC) game on their season schedule, with tip-off at 7:00 p.m.
Bowing Green (5-8) currently rests in 9th place in the MAC- while the Broncos (3-10) rest in last place at 12.
Here’s what both teams look like heading into Kalamazoo:
Matchup history
Through 128 games, Bowling Green leads the season series with Western Michigan with 75 wins to 53 losses. Despite this, the Orange and Brown have a 30-32 record when they play the Broncos in Kalamazoo.
The Falcons swept the season series last year, going 2-0 and defeating Western Michigan 73-65 the last time they played in Read Fieldhouse.
Bowling Green
The Falcons come into their matchup with the Broncos sporting a 5-8 record on the season, losing their first conference game of the season to Akron 71-68 after leading nearly the entire game before losing the lead in the last 1:10 of the night.
Bowling Green is 0-4 in away games this season, their last away game they fell 85-77 to Kansas City on Dec 14.
Injury-wise, it’s been an unlucky stretch for the Orange and Brown. Currently, Sam Towns, Youseff Khayat, and DaJion Humphrey are all out with injuries.
Bowling Green has also had long stretches of the season where they have followed a win, in this case, Aquinas College, with back-to-back losses, which they look to avoid this Tuesday when they face the Broncos.
Despite the inconsistency and injuries, Bowling Green is averaging 77.6 points per game- which statistically makes them a top-four offense in the MAC. Bowling Green is averaging strong shooting numbers with 45.1% from the field and 35.3% from three.
The Falcons are the best free throw shooting team in the MAC, averaging 78.9% from the charity stripe.
Western Michigan
Nothing seems to be going right for the Broncos, with a 3-10 record on the season, Western Michigan’s last win came all the way back on Nov 27 when they defeated Youngstown State 73-62.
Since then, the Broncos have lost a whopping six games in a row, their last time out falling 76-70 to Toledo.
Western Michigan ranks in the bottom of the MAC in several categories: 70.4 points per game (11th ), shooting 42.1% from the field (10th), 29.3% from the three-point line (11th) and free throw percentage- 65.0% (12th)
Despite those rough shooting numbers, the Broncos do have one undeniable strength- rebounding. The Broncos average 39.6 total rebounds per game, placing them second in the MAC in total team rebounds per game.
Western Michigan is also the best offensive-rebounding team in the conference, averaging 13.6 offensive rebounds per game.
Falcon Four Players to Watch
Trey Thomas (Bowling Green #1)
Thomas had a standout performance against Akron- scoring a season-high 19 points on 7/11 shooting and recording 3 steals.
Jamai Felt (Bowling Green #11)
In order to beat the Broncos, the Falcons are going to need to control the boards. Felt grabbed 10 rebounds vs the Zips, with 6 of them coming on the offensive end of the court.
Chansey Willis Jr (Western Michigan #2)
Since returning to the court vs St Thomas on Dec 13, Willis Jr has been the leading scorer for the Broncos- averaging 16.3 points per game on 42.7% shooting.
Owen Lobsinger (Western Michigan #20)
Lobsinger is the leading rebounder of the team, averaging 7.4 rebounds per game- along with scoring 11.1 points per game.
