% = Details to come
# NO. 6 MICHIGAN 88, BUFFALO 76
# WESTERN MICHIGAN 76, HOPE 58
ANN ARBOR, MI – Behind a career high 32 points from senior Jeenathan Williams, the Buffalo Bulls outscored #6 Michigan, 40-37 in the second half, but a slow start led to an 88-76 win for the Wolverines in the season opener for both teams.
Michigan, who unveiled their Big Ten Championship banner pregame and played in the Elite Eight last season, led by as many as 24 points in the first half as the Wolverines shot over 57 percent from the floor. UB struggled offensively, shooting just 37.1 percent. The Bulls, however, were able to make a late charge as they went on an 11-2 run over the final two minutes, cutting the halftime deficit to 51-36.
Just three minutes into the second half, the Bulls had already trimmed the Michigan lead to single digits as a bucket from Ronaldo Segu cut the score to 55-47. Michigan would go back up by 13, but a 12-4 run got the Bulls as close as they had been since the game started. They trailed by just five at 70-65 following a three from Keishawn Brewton with 7:13 left.
Buffalo continued to trail by just five with six minutes remaining, but Michigan went on to score the next five and went on a 12-2 run to regain a 15-point lead. Williams scored the final two of his 32 points with 16 seconds left, for the final score.
Williams led all scorers in the game with his career best 32 points, as he was 14-of-22 from the floor. He added eight rebounds. Segu added 15 points and a team-high four assists.
Senior Josh Mballa added 13 points, including going a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. David Skogman had a tough matchup on the night as he was matched up against 7-footer and second-team All-American Hunter Dickinson, but the sophomore finished with six points and five boards.
Maceo Jack had five points and four rebounds in his Buffalo debut, while Brewton added three points and Tra'von Fagan had two.
The Bulls had a solid performance from the free throw line, going 15-of-18 from the charity stripe and UB was narrowly outrebounded by its Big Ten foe, 39-37.
Dickinson had 27 points to lead the way for Michigan.
Western Michigan 76, Hope 58
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – In his team debut, Lamar Norman Jr. scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Western Michigan men’s basketball team to a season-opening 76-58 win over Hope College on Wednesday night at University Arena.
Norman netted a career-best 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting, which included making five of his eight three-point attempts. Fellow WMU debutant Markeese Hastings nearly posted a double-double, scoring seven points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds. Hastings also nabbed a team-high three steals.
Senior transfer Mack Smith made Western Michigan’s first basket of the season, a three-pointer 21 seconds into the contest, to spark a 10-2 start for the Broncos. In front 23-16, WMU ripped off a 10-0 run, which was capped by an Etchison three-point play, to build the advantage to 33-16 with 3:54 remaining in the half. During the run, the Broncos held the Flying Dutchmen without a field goal for nearly six-and-a-half minutes.
In the final minute of the opening period, Danny Kolp threw down a dunk to give Western Michigan its biggest lead of the half, 39-20, which was the margin the Broncos took into the locker room. WMU shot an even 50.0 percent (15-for-30) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes while holding Hope College to 23.5 percent (8-for-34) shooting.
A pair of Norman triples in the opening three minutes of the second stanza helped Western Michigan extend its advantage to 26, 50-24, with 17:20 remaining. At the 9:27 mark, B. Artis White completed a three-point play to cap a 7-0 run which gave the Broncos their biggest lead of the evening, 64-34.
Hope College responded with an extended 21-4 surge to draw back to within 13, 68-55, with just under three minutes left to play. The Flying Dutchmen could get no closer, as Josiah Freeman helped Western Michigan seal the victory with six points over the final two-and-a-half minutes.
For the game, WMU shot 46.7 percent from the field (28-of-60), and made eight three-pointers on 23 attempts (34.8 percent). Hope College shot 32.4 percent (22-of-68) on field goals and netted just four triples on 29 attempts (13.8 percent).
Western Michigan won the rebounding battle, 46-38, was plus-six (34-28) on points in the paint, and got 31 points from its bench, compared to 19 for the Flying Dutchmen.
All 11 Broncos who saw action on Wednesday scored at least three points and grabbed at least one rebound.