GAME NOTES: The Western Michigan Broncos will finish up a long road trip against the Northwestern Wildcats Saturday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

This is the final stop of a seven-game road trip for the Broncos, who have not played in Kalamazoo since Nov. 22. They have picked up some momentum of late with wins in three of their last four outings. Western Michigan is coming off Sunday's 80-72 win at Pacific.

Meanwhile, Northwestern has dropped four of its last five, including Wednesday's 80-67 setback against Central Michigan. That outcome snapped NU's streak of holding 15 straight opponents under 70 points, the longest such streak in the nation. This is the third leg of the team's five-game homestand.

NU owns a 23-7 series lead over the Broncos.

The Broncos were simply too much for Pacific to handle on Sunday, as they shot 56 percent from the floor and had 21 assists on 28 field goals for the game. It marked their fourth-highest assists total in a game in program history. Connar Tava led the way with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Tava, the MAC West Player of the Week for Dec. 15, is averaging a team-best 16.1 ppg. David Brown (13.4 ppg) scored 13 of his 16 points after halftime, while Austin Richie (13.8 ppg) rounded out WMU's double-digit scorers with 14 points.

Along with the aforementioned trio, Tucker Haymond is averaging double figures on the season with 13.4 ppg. The Broncos rank 16th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.416) and 19th in field goal percentage (.496).

Three players are scoring in double figures for Northwestern, led by Alex Olah with 11.6 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds per tilt. Tre Demps is averaging 10.3 ppg, followed by Bryant McIntosh with 10.0 ppg. The Wildcats are shooting just 42.3 percent from the floor as a team.

McIntosh and Olah scored 12 points apiece against CMU. Sanjay Lumpkin finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Dave Sobolewski scored 10 points in 16 minutes off the bench. However, the Chippewas shot a red-hot 58.3 percent from the floor, including 10-of-18 accuracy from beyond the arc.

NU has dominated the head-to-head series, although the Broncos have picked up their play on the road of late. Look for NU to tighten up defensively after that disappointing effort against Central Michigan.