Titans' Early Run Of Points To Much For Pioneers
Ben Boots scored 15 points and Max Schebel added 10 points and 10 rebounds as the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team secured a 71-60 win at UW-Platteville on Wednesday (Jan. 11).
UW-Oshkosh (9-5, 2-1 WIAC) raced out to a 31-11 lead, trailing for just 24 seconds the entire game, on the way to its fourth straight win over UW-Platteville. The Titans also have three consecutive road wins over the Pioneers for the first time since a stretch from 1983-85.
Boots led the Titans in scoring for the fifth time this season by knocking down 2 of 6 shots from the field and 10 of 11 free throws. He added six rebounds and two assists.
Schebel produced his second double-double in the past four games, shooting 5-for-9 from the floor.
UW-Oshkosh's Brett Wittchow recorded 11 of his 13 points in the first half while Jack Flynn and AJ Mueller contributed nine points apiece off the Titan bench. Flynn and Mueller also collected eight and five rebounds, respectively.
The Titans concluded the game with advantages in field goal percentage (.471 to .328), rebounds (42-33) and assists (11-7). Both teams established season-best turnover totals with UW-Oshkosh committing just 10 and UW-Platteville only eight.
UW-Platteville (7-7, 0-3 WIAC) missed 17 of its first 20 shots from the floor as the Titans built a commanding 31-11 lead with just over six minutes left in the opening period.
A pair of free throws by Trey Sigel gave the Pioneers their only lead at 6-5, but UW-Oshkosh's Taylor Jansen nailed a 3-pointer just 24 seconds later, and the Titans held an advantage for the remainder of the contest.
The Pioneers went more than five minutes without a field goal until a basket by Dan Lowe cut their deficit to 14-8. The score snapped a string of nine unanswered points by the Titans.
Wittchow drove for a layup and drilled a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to spark UW-Oshkosh's 15-point scoring run that spanned more than five minutes. Wittchow's 3-pointer extended the Titan advantage to 21-11 before a 3-pointer by Charlie Noone, a layup by Flynn, a 3-pointer by Kyle Beyak and a layup by Schebel pushed the UW-Oshkosh lead to 31-11 at the 6:22 mark of the first half.
A 3-pointer by Sigel trimmed the Titan lead to 33-21 with 3:14 left in the opening half, but UW-Oshkosh closed out the period with a basket by Wittchow and a pair of layups by Schebel for a 39-21 advantage at intermission.
UW-Oshkosh shot 50 percent (15-30) from the field during the first half while UW-Platteville connected at a 24.1 percent (7-29) rate.
The Pioneers cut their deficit to 45-35 on a 3-pointer by Sigel with 14:17 to go, but a jumper by Boots and a pair of free throws by Mueller pushed UW-Oshkosh's lead to 49-35.
Trailing 60-41 with four minutes left, UW-Platteville closed to within 62-52 at the 2:10 mark before UW-Oshkosh secured the victory by making 9 of 13 free throws over the next 81 seconds, including 8-for-9 shooting by Boots.
UW-Platteville's Robert Duax led all players with 19 points. Sigel contributed 15 points while Duax and Colin Kramper both had a team-leading six rebounds for the Pioneers.
The 11-point margin of victory was the Titans' largest over the Pioneers in the 20 meetings since their 67-51 triumph in 2007.
UW-Oshkosh travels to UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Jan. 14).
Photo courtesy of UW-Platteville Sports Information