2016 MAC Men’s Basketball Recap: Western Michigan @ Oakland

Sometimes it’s hard to tell what happened in a game by just the stats. In the modern age, with all the new stats, it becomes even more of a cluster. However, there is one stat that sums up this game perfectly for the Broncos. They had 1 assist after playing 25 minutes of basketball.

WMU was only down 4 at the half. I was looking forward to watching an exciting half of defensive minded basketball. What I got was a complete meltdown from the Bronco offense, and two of the worst announcers I have ever listened to in my entire life.

Every time Oakland hit a three, I had to listen to “of coooourse”. No man should have to endure that in this modern world. Every foul by Oakland was questionable, and heavy breathing should have caused a foul on WMU.

Maybe they weren’t actually that bad, and I am just projecting my disappointment in the Bronco’s offense. There was a lot standing around, dribbling without a purpose, and confusion.

The numbers reflected the bad performance for Western. 22-62 from the floor, a pathetic 35.2%. 3-15 on three pointers. 5 assists. Everywhere else the Broncos were fine. They had a 40-34 rebounding edge. 17 turnovers are not ideal, but not a guaranteed game loser. Only 16 personal fouls. They just could not score.

Even their heart was there. Down by double digits, with 3:45 to go, Thomas Wilder dove for a loose ball. I wouldn’t have bothered. Maybe that’s why I write about basketball instead of play it.

Oakland is a good basketball team, that already has a win against a MAC opponent. It was the Broncos first road game, and they have a lot of new faces. It’s possible they were looking ahead to Villanova, or they could have lost focus because they were thinking of their College Gameday signs.

I am going to try my hardest to not overreact to one game early in the season, in a notoriously streaky game. WMU has a lot of pieces I like. We all know about the talents of Wilder. He scored 13 on 5-15 shooting, missing a couple of layups in the process. I know that isn’t going to be the norm.

Seth Dugan looked good at center, scoring 9 points and grabbing 15 boards. 6 of those were on the offensive end. Freshman Brandon Johnson matched his 12 points in the opener, on 6 of 8 shooting, and grabbed 5 boards.

Martez Walker, a 6-6 junior from Detroit let all scorers, putting up 21 for the Grizzlies. Jaylen Hayes added 18 and 7 boards.