The 2013–14 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team represented Western Michigan University (WMU) during the

2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November with the 2K Sports Classic and ended with the Final Four in Arlington, Texas April 5–7. It was tipped off by the 2013 Champions Classic on November 12, 2013. Season he ...

. The Broncos were Mid-American Conference (MAC) overall and West Division co-champions with

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

, received the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and defeated Toledo in the conference finals to receive the MAC's automatic berth into the

2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 2014, and concluded with the ...

. WMU is led by 11th year head coach

Steve Hawkins Stephen Greg Hawkins (born August 3, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and the former head Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball, men's basketball coach at Western Michigan University. He had previously served as the head coach ...

and play their home games at University Arena in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

. WMU was given a 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost to No. 3 seeded

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

in the second round 77–53. Syracuse was ranked No. 14 in the AP Poll. Seniors David Brown and

Shayne Whittington Shayne Mitchell Whittington (born March 27, 1991) is a former American-Macedonian professional basketball player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents N ...

were awarded All-MAC first team honors while Hawkins was awarded the MAC Coach of the Year.

2013 recruiting class

Western Michigan brought in three freshmen from high school detailed in the following table.

Preseason

WMU was picked by a 25-member MAC news media panel to finish second in the MAC West Division. They finished with 108 points, 41 points behind first place Toledo and 7 points ahead of third place Eastern Michigan. Senior forward Shayne Whittington was selected to the West Division All-MAC Team. The Broncos did not receive any first place votes to win the division nor any votes to win the conference tournament. Western Michigan defeated Kalamazoo College 88–59 and

Aquinas College :''See also List of institutions named after Thomas Aquinas'' Aquinas College may refer to any one of several educational institutions: In Australia *Aquinas College, Perth, Roman Catholic boys' R–12 school *Aquinas College, Adelaide, residenti ...

69–54 in exhibition games at University Arena prior to opening the regular season against New Mexico State in the Rainbow Classic.

Season

Rainbow Classic

Western Michigan opened the 2013–14 season in Hawaii by winning the Rainbow Classic. WMU finished 2–1 in the four-team,

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

along with New Mexico State and Hawaii and was awarded the title based on the tiebreaker of fewest points allowed in the tournament. The Broncos gave up 194 total points while New Mexico State and Hawaii allowed 213 and 218 points, respectively. Senior guard David Brown was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Awards

The Broncos received six MAC West Division Player of the Week awards this season.

David Brown

Senior guard David Brown was named the MAC West Division Player of the Week on February 10, 2014. In two wins over Ohio and Northern Illinois, Brown averaged 23

point Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

s per game. Brown shot 14–23 (61%) for

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

s and 10–14 (71%) on three-point field goals. He also had eight rebounds and five steals during the week. In the NIU game, Brown had 20 points in the first half while making his first nine shots of the game.

Connar Tava

Sophomore forward Connar Tava was named the MAC West Division Player of the Week on December 2, 2013. Tava averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in a 99–88 win over

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and an 83–70 win over

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. Tava made all eight field goal attempts against Oakland and recorded his first career double–double against Cornell. Tava won his second MAC West Division Player of the Week on January 13, 2014. In two victories over preseason favorite

and Miami, Tava averaged 23.5 points per game and made 16 of 17 field goals (94.1%). The only field goal he missed was his final shot of the game against Miami. Tava also recorded nine rebounds, six assists, two

blocked shot In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand (unless the de ...

s and two steals during the two games.

Shayne Whittington

Senior center Shayne Whittington was named the MAC West Division Player of the Week on January 27, 2014. Whittington averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game in two wins against

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

and

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...

. Whittington was named the co-MAC West Division Player of the Week on February 17, 2014. Whittington averaged 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in two wins over Akron and Miami that moved WMU into a tie for first place in the MAC. He also recorded four blocks against Miami. He earned his second consecutive MAC West Player of the Week on February 24, 2014. In wins over Ohio and Eastern Michigan, Whittington averaged 16.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He did that while missing two practices prior to the EMU game.

Roster

Schedule

, - !colspan=9, MAC tournament , - !colspan=8, NCAA tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2013-14 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball seasons Western Michigan Western Michigan