The 2013–14 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team represented

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

(WMU) during the

2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 8, 2013 and ended with the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, whose Final Four was played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on April 5,& ...

. The Broncos were

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(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, Or ...

, 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 that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2013-14 ...

. WMU is led by 11th year head coach

Steve Hawkins Stephen Greg Hawkins (born August 3, 1962) is an American college basketball coach. He is currently an assistant men's basketball coach for Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a position he has held since 2024. He had previously served as ...

and play their home games at University Arena in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

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

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

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 an American-Macedonian former professional basketball player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Western Michigan Broncos. He also represents North Macedonia in the international ...

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 Kalamazoo College is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by American Baptist Churches USA, Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, K ...

88–59 and Aquinas College 69–54 in exhibition games at University Arena prior to opening the regular season against

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

in the Rainbow Classic.

Season

Rainbow Classic

Western Michigan opened the 2013–14 season in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

by winning the Rainbow Classic. WMU finished 2–1 in the four-team,

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...

along with New Mexico State and

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 Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

, Brown averaged 23 points 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. Consequently, ...

s and 10–14 (71%) on three-point field goals. He also had eight rebounds and five

steal Steal, Stealer or Stealing may refer to: * Theft, the illegal act of taking another person's property without that person's freely-given consent * The gaining of a stolen base in baseball ** the 2004 ALCS stolen base in Game Four, see Dave Roberts ...

s 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 a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

and an 83–70 win over

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

. 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 Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 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 def ...

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, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia, ...

and

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

. 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 Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

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 West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...