Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Championship Sunday
Two Mid-American Conference in-state rivals meet on the hardcourt Saturday when the Western Michigan Broncos (6-14, 2-5 MAC) visit Mount Pleasant and McGuirk Arena to play the Central Michigan Broncos (7-13, 2-5 MAC). Western Michigan lost its third straight when falling to the Ohio Bobcats 88-76 on Tuesday night. The Broncos have lost six of the last eight. Central Michigan lost its third straight when falling to the Bowling Green Falcons 83-61 on Tuesday and the Chippewas have lost five of the last six. Western Michigan does not have any players on its injury report, while Kevin Miller is out for Central Michigan.
Western Michigan is allowing an average of 73.1 (284th) points per game, while opponents are shooting 46.0% (317th) overall and 36.0% (308th) from three-point territory. Western Michigan is scoring an average of slightly less than the Bronco are allowing at 71.5 (187th) points per game while shooting 44.5% (189th) overall and 34.0% (186th) from 3-point territory.
Lamar Norman Jr is scoring an average of 18.0 points per game to lead Western michigan. The guard is shooting only 42.6% overall and 36.3% from long range. Tray Maddox Jr is the second leading scorer with an average of 11.1 points per game and shoots even worse at 41.6% overall and 31.6% from behind the line. Norman and Maddox are the only two players for Western Michigan that average double figures in scoring. Norman is the dish leader with an average of 2.9 as sists per game. On the boards, Western Michigan is averaging 38.2 rebounds per game led by Markeese Hastings with an average of 9.9 boards per contest. Maddox is the leader in steals with an average of 1.0 per game and Hastings is the swat leader with an average of 0.6 blocked shots per game.