2009–10 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team was an NCAA Division I college basketball team representing Western Michigan University. The team was the two-time defending Mid-American Conference (MAC) West Division champion. WMU was coached by Steve Hawkins who was in his seventh season as head coach of the school. The Broncos played their home games at University Arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They finished the season 18–15, 8–8 in MAC play and lost in the semifinals of the 2010 MAC men's basketball tournament.

2009–10 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	18–15 (8–8 MAC)
Head coach	Steve Hawkins
Assistant coaches	Bacari Alexander Clayton Bates Rick Carter
Home arena	University Arena
Seasons ← 2008–09 2010–11 →

2009–10 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Kent State	13	–	3		.813			24	–	10		.706
Akron	12	–	4		.750			24	–	11		.686
Miami	9	–	7		.563			14	–	18		.438
Buffalo	9	–	7		.563			18	–	12		.600
Ohio†	7	–	9		.438			22	–	15		.595
Bowling Green	6	–	10		.375			14	–	16		.467
West
Central Michigan	9	–	7		.563			15	–	15		.500
Eastern Michigan	8	–	8		.500			17	–	15		.531
Western Michigan	8	–	8		.500			18	–	15		.545
Ball State	8	–	8		.500			15	–	15		.500
Northern Illinois	6	–	10		.375			10	–	20		.333
Toledo	1	–	15		.063			4	–	28		.125
† Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Pre-season

Western Michigan was picked to finish fifth in the MAC's West Division by members of the MAC News Media Panel.^[1] The Broncos received four first-place votes.^[1] Senior guard David Kool was selected to the All-MAC West Division Pre-season team.^[1]

This season also marked the return of assistant coach Clayton Bates who had left the team for a season in order to work in the private sector.^[2] Bates previously served as assistant coach at Western Michigan for eight seasons.^[2] Bates replaced former assistant coach Andy Hipsher. Hipsher left WMU to become director of basketball operations at USF.^[3]

Awards

• David Kool
  • All-MAC West Division Pre-season team
  • West Division Player of the Week
    • Week 5 – For the week, Kool averaged 23.5 points per game on 45.7% shooting, 42.9% shooting from three-point range and 100% shooting from the free throw line. Against Eastern Illinois, Kool produced the highest-scoring game of any player in the MAC this season with 34 points. He made a career-high eight three-pointers out of a career-high 11 field goals in 18 attempts.^[4]
    • Week 6 – In WMU's only game of the week, Kool led his team over Kennesaw State with 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kool scored nine of WMU's final 11 points of the game, including a three-pointer with 2:16 remaining that gave WMU the lead for the rest of the game.^[5]
  • Mid-American Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Week ^[6]
    • Week 15 (Dec. 18)
    • Week 16 (Dec. 23)
    • Week 18 (Jan. 8)
• Martelle McLemore
  • West Division Player of the Week
    • Week 2 – Set career highs with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists against VCU. McLemore converted on 9–13 from the field, including 8–9 on two-point field goals and 3–3 free throw shooting.^[7]
• Alex Wolf
  • West Division Player of the Week
    • Week 7 – Wolf earned player of the week honors based on his performance at the Diamond Head Classic.
  • Mid-American Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Week
    • Week 17 (Jan. 1)

Diamond Head Classic

Diamond Head Classic surprise Alex Wolf, in a game against the University of Illinois.

The Broncos finished fifth out of eight teams in the December 2009 Diamond Head Classic. After losing the first game to eventual champion USC, WMU defeated Northeastern and the College of Charleston to finish the tournament 2–1. Western Michigan led USC 27–18 at the half and 47–46 with 4:24 to go in the game.^[8] WMU gave champion USC their toughest game of the tournament.^[9]

The tournament was the breakout performance for junior walk-on guard Alex Wolf, who scored 28 total points in the final two games of the tournament. Wolf had scored only 11 career points until the point. In the tournament, Wolf earned career highs in points (15) and rebounds (5) and made his first career three-point field goal. Wolf averaged 11 points, four rebounds and one assist per game and made six out of eight three-point field goals and four out of six free throws. For his accomplishments, Wolf was named MAC West Co-Player of the Week.^[10]

Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown (Previous school)
25	David Brown	G	6'3"	213	Fr.	Roscoe, IL (Hononegah)
32	Muhammed Conteh	F/C	6'7"	232	So.	Bloomington, IN (Providence School)
5	Mike Douglas	G	6'0"	177	So.	Detroit, MI (Finney)
22	Austin Harper	G	6'2"	176	Fr.	Grand Haven, MI (Grand Haven)
11	Nate Hutcheson	F	6'7"	206	Fr.	Marion, IA (Linn-Mar)
23	David Kool	G	6'3"	213	Sr.	Grand Rapids, MI (South Christian)
24	Donald Lawson	C	6'10"	243	Sr.	Chicago, IL (Leo Catholic)
3	Martelle McLemore	G/F	6'5"	205	Sr.	Detroit, MI (Consortium Prep)
10	Brandon Pokley	G	6'4"	176	Fr.	Clarkston, MI (Clarkston)
50	Nick Stapert	C	6'8"	230	Fr.	Gobles, MI (Gobles)
1	Demetrius Ward	G	6'3"	208	So.	Detroit, MI (Pershing)
33	Flenard Whitfield	F	6'7"	222	So.	Detroit, MI (Martin Luther King)
21	Shayne Whittington	C	6'10"	210	Fr.	Paw Paw, MI (Lawrence)
15	Alex Wolf	G	6'0"	198	Jr.	Parchment, MI (Parchment)

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/7/09* 2:00pm		Kalamazoo College	W 78–52[11]	0–0	University Arena (2,097) Kalamazoo, MI
11/11/09* 7:00pm		Spring Arbor	W 81–51[12]	0–0	University Arena (2,644) Kalamazoo, MI
Regular season
11/15/09* 3:00pm		at Detroit	W 86–80[13]	0–1	Calihan Hall (3,840) Detroit, MI
11/18/09* 7:00pm		VCU	W 83–67[14]	1–1	University Arena (2,654) Kalamazoo, MI
11/23/09* 8:00pm, WYIN, ESPN Full Court		at Loyola (IL)	W 60–58[15]	1–2	Gentile Center (1,848) Chicago, IL
11/28/09* 2:00pm		Holy Cross	W 64–54[16]	2–2	University Arena (2,671) Kalamazoo, MI
12/1/09* 7:00pm		Temple	W 76–70[17]	2–3	University Arena (3,086) Kalamazoo, MI
12/9/09* 8:30pm		at Eastern Illinois	W 69–58[18]	3–3	Lantz Arena (1,033) Charleston, IL
12/13/09* 2:30pm, Big Ten Network		at Illinois	W 88–53[19]	3–4	Assembly Hall (14,886) Urbana, IL
12/19/09* 4:00pm		Kennesaw State	W 72–64[20]	4–4	University Arena (2,612) Kalamazoo, MI
12/22/09* 5:00pm, ESPNU		vs. USC Diamond Head Classic	W 55–51[21]	4–5	Stan Sheriff Center (6,892) Honolulu, HI
12/23/09* 3:00pm, ESPNU		vs. Northeastern Diamond Head Classic	W 75–60[22]	5–5	Stan Sheriff Center (N/A) Honolulu, HI
12/25/09* 4:30pm		vs. College of Charleston Diamond Head Classic	W 66–63[23]	6–5	Stan Sheriff Center (5,402) Honolulu, HI
1/3/09* 2:00pm		Sam Houston State	W 74–73[24]	7–5	University Arena (2,693) Kalamazoo, MI
1/5/09* 7:00pm		Michigan–Dearborn	W 86–45[25]	8–5	University Arena (2,362) Kalamazoo, MI
1/9/09 4:00pm		Eastern Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy	W 61–47[26]	9–5 (1–0)	University Arena (3,224) Kalamazoo, MI
1/13/09 8:00pm		at Northern Illinois	W 87–77[27]	9–6 (1–1)	Convocation Center (1,463) DeKalb, IL
1/16/09 2:00pm		Central Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy	W 70–61[28]	10–6 (2–1)	University Arena (4,656) Kalamazoo, MI
1/20/09 7:00pm		at Ball State	W 75–68[29]	10–7 (2–2)	Worthen Arena (3,032) Muncie, IN
1/23/09 2:00pm		Toledo	W 73–41[30]	11–7 (3–2)	University Arena (3,521) Kalamazoo, MI
1/27/09 7:00pm		Akron	W 79–70[31]	11–8 (3–3)	University Arena (3,041) Kalamazoo, MI
1/30/09 2:00pm, Fox Sports Detroit[32]		at Kent State	W 74–73[33]	11–9 (3–4)	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (3,961) Kent, OH
2/1/09 7:00pm		at Buffalo	W 85–70[34]	12–9 (4–4)	Alumni Arena (1,301) Buffalo, NY
2/4/09 7:00pm		Miami	W 56–54[35]	12–10 (4–5)	University Arena (3,032) Kalamazoo, MI
2/6/09 2:00pm		Bowling Green	W 65–64[36]	13–10 (5–5)	University Arena (3,515) Kalamazoo, MI
2/9/09 7:00pm		at Ohio	W 90–74[37]	13–11 (5–6)	Convocation Center (2,880) Athens, OH
2/14/09 2:00pm, Fox Sports Detroit[38]		at Eastern Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy	W 66–52[39]	13–12 (5–7)	Convocation Center (1,094) Ypsilanti, MI
2/17/09 7:00pm, Fox Sports Detroit Plus[40]		Northern Illinois	W 90–81[41]	14–12 (6–7)	University Arena (3,016) Kalamazoo, MI
2/20/09* 3:00pm		at Southern Illinois BracketBusters	W 89–72[42]	14–13	SIU Arena (4,151) Carbondale, IL
2/24/09 7:00pm		at Toledo	W 61–41[43]	15–13 (7–7)	Savage Arena (3,398) Toledo, OH
2/27/09 6:30pm, Fox Sports Detroit[44]		at Central Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy	W 74–66[45]	15–14 (7–8)	Rose Arena (3,504) Mt. Pleasant, MI
3/4/09 7:00pm		Ball State	W 67–52[46]	16–14 (8–8)	University Arena (3,121) Kalamazoo, MI
MAC Tournament
3/7/09 2:00pm		Bowling Green MAC tournament first round	W 75–73[47]	17–14	University Arena (1,786) Kalamazoo, MI
3/11/09 12:00pm, Fox Sports Detroit		vs. Central Michigan MAC Tournament quarterfinals	W 69–60[48]	18–14	Quicken Loans Arena (N/A) Cleveland, OH
3/12/09 7:00pm, ESPN Full Court		vs. Akron MAC Tournament semifinals	W 66–64[49]	18–15	Quicken Loans Arena (N/A) Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

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