It is now obvious that the men's basketball team needs to revamp the way they approach games defensively. The losses continue to pile up and the team has now dropped to .500 in the Mid-American Conference, with their latest defeat coming Monday night at Alumni Arena.
Western Michigan (12-9, 4-4 MAC) jumped out to an early lead against the Bulls (11-8, 4-4 MAC) and never looked back. The Broncos shot 58.5 percent from the field and bested Buffalo, 85-70. The Bulls struggled defensively and didn't have enough offensive threats to keep the game close.
"Western came in here and gave us a good old-fashioned whoopin'," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We can say that they were hot, and that's certainly not a lie, but when they mix in shooting really well from three and getting to the basket when they want, then we have some issues."
The Broncos nailed a season-best 11 3-pointers with 50 percent shooting from behind the arc. WMU's was also effective inside as they totaled 34 points in the paint.
WMU also displayed its dominance on the boards and out-rebounds Buffalo 32-29.
Aside from back-and-forth play in the opening minutes, the game was never really close. WMU looked poised on offense and seemed to get any look it wanted. Strong ball movement allowed the Broncos to take quality shots each time down the court with limited opposition from the Bulls defense.
'When you're playing against any team, the first thing that you've got to do is establish the fact that you're not going to give them easy shots at the basket,' Witherspoon said. 'Their first possession they got an easy shot at the basket. They're going to make some tough ones, but if they get easy ones to go along with the tough ones, they're going to shoot 58 percent, and that doesn't give you a chance.'
Buffalo put up little resistance on defense and was late on all of its assignments. Bronco shooters got open looks at the basket and had enough time to make smarts decisions on the offensive end. WMU had two 20-plus point scorers and received contributions from the entire roster.
Forward Martelle McLemore snapped out of his shooting slump and went 8-for-15 and scored a team-best 24 points. He was perfect from the free throw line (4-for-4) and also grabbed nine rebounds.
Broncos' star player, guard David Kool, underlined his place atop the MAC scoring charts. Kool didn't look to create shots, but instead took what the defense gave him. He finished with 23 points and knocked down four 3-pointers.
WMU guard Mike Douglas didn't miss a shot from the field and forward Donald Lawson added 11 points and seven rebounds.
On the other end, the Bulls weren't able to get much offensive stability. Senior guard Rodney Pierce played 37 minutes and led all scorers with 29 points, but it took him 26 shots to reach that mark. It seemed like his teammates were differing to him, forcing him to create his own shot to propel a scoring run.
'It's not even about [forcing shots] really,' Pierce said. 'I guess that's tough, knowing that I'm going to be the leader, but it shouldn't even have to come down to that really. We [have to] play defense. If you play [defense] then you're on a better rhythm on offense.'
Despite the bright spot on offense, the Bulls aren't going to win many games without playing defense.
'Are we a lot better than we were last year, offensively? Yes,' Witherspoon said. 'But that doesn't [prove much]. I'm sorry the game of basketball is that way. Somebody talks about what you're doing on offense, but if you can't stop people [on defense], you're not going to just outscore them to win.'
Buffalo will look to avoid a losing skid as they visit the MAC West leading Central Michigan Chippewas (10-9, 5-2 MAC) on Thursday night. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
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