Titans Begin WIAC Circuit With Victory Over Blugolds

The nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team never trailed en route to defeating UW-Eau Claire, 69-60, during its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener Wednesday (Dec. 1) in Kolf Sports Center.

UW-Oshkosh's Hunter Plamann led all players with 20 points and three assists while Levi Borchert notched his fifth double-double this year and 13th career, recording 16 points and 13 rebounds to go along with two assists and a pair of steals.

The Titans featured four double digit scorers as Eddie Muench and Quinn Steckbauer added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

UW-Oshkosh (7-1, 1-0 WIAC), ranked 10th the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, extended its home winning streak to 10 games after scoring the first two points of the game on a Borchert layup 40 seconds into the contest. The Titans took the lead for good at 4-2 following a Plamann layup with 18:40 left in the first half.

Clinging to a 22-19 advantage late in the opening period, UW-Oshkosh scored seven unanswered points during a span of more than three minutes for a 29-19 cushion before heading into intermission with a 33-24 lead.

The Titans went on to lead by as many as 14 points at 49-35 after a Borchert layup that capped a 14-3 run with 9:08 remaining in the game. UW-Oshkosh has now won six of the last seven meetings in the series with UW-Eau Claire.

UW-Eau Claire (5-3, 0-1 WIAC), the last team to beat UW-Oshkosh in Kolf Sports Center, never got closer than seven points over the final 11:56 of the game. The Titans have still not lost at home since the Blugolds eked out a 78-76 win in Oshkosh on Feb. 5, 2020.

Michael Casper paced the Blugolds with 18 points while David Ijadimbola had 15 points and two assists for UW-Eau Claire, which also received a team leading 10 rebounds from Carter Brooks.

UW-Oshkosh went 27 of 63 (.429) from the field, 6-for-21 (.286) from 3-point range and 9-for-12 (.750) at the free throw line. The Titans owned advantages of 37-31 in rebounds, 6-14 in turnovers and 7-3 in steals. UW-Oshkosh, which committed its first turnover at the 9:44 mark of the second half, entered the night ranked eighth in the country with 9.6 turnovers per contest. The six turnovers Wednesday are the Titans' fewest since also committing just six against Emory University (Ga.) on Dec. 29, 2019.

UW-Eau Claire shot 42.6% (23-54) from the floor, 46.7% (7-15) from beyond the 3-point arc and 70% (7-10) at the foul line. The Blugolds held edges of 9-6 in assists and 5-1 in blocks.

UW-Oshkosh jumped out to a 12-4 lead during the first four minutes of the game until UW-Eau Claire pulled within 18-17 at the 10:56 mark of the opening period. The Titans' string of seven unanswered points that extended the advantage to 29-19 began with an Eric Peterson 3-pointer before Cole Booth and Steckbauer added layups as the Blugolds went more than five minutes without a made field goal.

Leading 35-32 with 15:44 left, the Titans created separation with a 14-3 run highlighted by six points from Borchert, five by Plamann and a Steckbauer 3-pointer that provided UW-Oshkosh a 49-35 cushion with 9:08 to play. UW-Eau Claire missed five consecutive field goal attempts and committed a pair of turnovers during UW-Oshkosh's decisive 14-3 run that spanned more than seven minutes.

UW-Oshkosh travels to eighth-ranked UW-La Crosse (7-1, 0-1 WIAC) on Saturday (Dec. 4).

Photo by Steve Frommell, UW-Oshkosh Athletics