Coming off the heels of a great win on the road against Buffalo, Ohio (12-11 overall, 6-5 Mid-American Conference), is returning home to The Convo on Tuesday to host a struggling Western Michigan team.
The Broncos had a tough season from the start, making headlines for their early-season loss to Division II school Northwood. The Timberwolves were picked to finish 11th in their conference, but they were able to pull off a huge upset against the Broncos in Kalamazoo.
Since then, Western Michigan’s season hasn’t gotten much better, as it sits at 8-13 overall and just 2-7 in MAC play. The two wins it notched came over fellow Michigan MAC schools in Central and Eastern Michigan.
In its most recent game, Western Michigan suffered a tough blowout loss to a similarly struggling Northern Illinois team. The Broncos need to start building momentum if they want to have a shot at the MAC tournament, as they currently sit at dead last in the MAC.
Ohio, on the other hand, is coming off a huge win on the road against Buffalo in a high-scoring game where the Bobcats were able to put up 95 points in the win.
It was a needed win for an Ohio team that had a rough stretch of play with disappointing performances against Akron and Kent State.
Western Michigan poses an opportunity for another solid win that would have Ohio at two games over .500 in conference play.
With all of that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at Western Michigan.
Game Information
Opponent: Western Michigan Broncos
Location: The Convo
Time: Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Where to watch: ESPN+
Follow live stats here.
Meet the Opponent:
Head Coach: Dwayne Stephens (4th season)
Projected Starters:
#03 EJ Ryans
#04 Brady Swartz
#10 Max Burton
#11 Justice Williams
#12 Jayden Brewer
Statistical Leaders:
Points: Williams (17.5 per game)
Assists: Jalen Griffith (4.1 per game)
Rebounds: Brewer (7.0 per game)
Steals: Griffith (1.1 per game)
Blocks: Brewer (1.0 per game )
FG%: Burton (49.1%)
3-point percentage: Swartz (39.7%)
Kent State player to watch: Justice Williams
Williams made his rounds in college basketball, with this season being his first with Western Michigan and his fifth total in his career.
The redshirt senior came out of high school a year early after reclassifying at the prestigious Monteverde Academy in Florida to join Louisiana State a year early. He spent two years in Baton Rouge with eight starts before transferring back to his home state of Pennsylvania at Robert Morris.
He missed last year due to injury, but he put up just over 12 points per game in his first year as a Colonial. Now as a Bronco, Williams found his groove, putting up a very solid 17.5 points per game while shooting 39.6% from deep.
