Game 18, 2025-26: at Western Michigan (1/13)

[MikeUMA]

Kalamazoo on a Tuesday night in mid-January. LFG!

UM faces the Broncos for the first time ever. 7 PM start on ESPN+

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Kalamazoo, Olean.. same difference.

[Sheck]

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H, I got a gal in Kalamazoo
Don't wanna boast
But I know she's the toast
Of Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo

[Juice Stand]

Something to keep an eye on is Marcus Banks' shooting hand. I remember him holding his hand a few times when he was off the ball in the Bowling Green game. I totally forgot about it until I read this Minuteman Command piece: https://www.minutemancommand.com/p/mart ... -umass-win

Guard Marcus Banks Jr. provided a lift in the second half after dealing with lingering finger issues that affected his shooting rhythm in recent games.

“We thought he had a fractured right index finger after the Bowling Green game,” Martin said. “It’s hard to be a shooter when you can’t flick that finger.”

[umiejoe]

Good Lord Sheck, how old are you anyway?

[bobolink]

WMU is 6-2 at home, most recently crushing Eastern Michigan by 17. UMass is 0-2 in road games, with a recent loss to Eastern by 6. Given those stats and the games against their common opponent, what are the odds? I don't know, but ESPN gives UMass a 72% chance of winning.

[69MG]

The opening line has us favored by 2.5 points. Unusual for us to be favored on the road. Let's hope Leo is feeling Ok after taking a bit of a beating against Ball State. Same for Marcus and his hand.

[Sheck]

Good Lord Sheck, how old are you anyway?

Following UMass basketball and football has aged me terribly.

Really hoping the oddsmakers are right on this one.

[MikeUMA]

OK, so the Broncos...

MAC member since: 1947 (pretty much league inception)

MAC titles, regular season (outright or divisional): 12 (last 2017)
MAC tournament (began in 1980) titles: 2 (last 2014)

NCAA Tournament appearances: 4 (2-4 record)
Last bid: 2014 (same as us)
Farthest run: Sweet Sixteen in 1976 (tourney was 32 teams at the time)
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... higan/men/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_M ... basketball

Current coach: Dwayne Stephens (4th season)
He was a 20-year assistant for Tom Izzo at Michigan State prior to getting his first HC job. Stephens also played for the Spartans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwayne_Stephens

WMU's last 4 seasons
2021-22 (last under Clayton Bates, who only lasted two seasons): 8-23 / 4-16
2022-23 (Stephens' first): also 8-23 and a 4-win MAC season (4-14)
2023-24: 12-20 / 9-9
2024-25: identical 12-20 / 9-9
Weird synergies there.

No prior meetings with UMass or Frank Martin, for Stephens or WMU in program history in general.

For the Broncos this season: 7-9 overall, 1-3 in MAC.
Their MAC win: this past Saturday at home over EMU, 79-62.
Their 3 losses were not surprising to upper tier MAC teams: home to Buffalo 88-71, at Toledo by a close 84-79, at Miami 87-76.

Big blemish: 85-81 home loss to D-II Northwood, in game 2.

No wins above Quad 4. They are a bit battle tested though, with 3 games at Quad 1 schools: Ohio State, Iowa, and the Miami OH game counts also. The EMU win was their best, by NET ranking.

Y'all can check out their stat leaders: https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sc ... /2026.html

We're favored by 2½, but we have yet to win a true road game, so let's see.

Matchup: https://bracketologists.com/matchup/NDAxODE0NTIx

[inthescoop]

UMass went from -2.5 to -4.5.. good sign.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Game is accessible via the Hulu app too.

[inthescoop]

Only reason I know about Kalamazoo is because that's where the Stryker headquarters are.. Styker, it's in the Mt Rushmore of medical devices.

Game is accessible via the Hulu app too.

Yep, that's how I watch every single game.. Hulu has ESPN+ on it

[MikeUMA]

Jay Burnham is going solo on the radio tonight. UMass couldn't even find a second guy within their own broadcast staff who wanted to make the trip out to Kalamazoo

Audio stream: https://thevarsitynetwork.com/feed/sour ... -Live-5106

[inthescoop]

Confused on why Clerc has fallen out of the rotation

[Berkman]

At the rate this game is going the team with the last shot is going to win unless someone starts playing better defense.