Defending National Champion Spoils Titans' WIAC Debut

Defending national champion UW-Whitewater had five double-figure scorers as it pulled away in the second half to defeat the UW-Oshkosh men's basketball team, 78-59, on Wednesday (Dec. 3) in Kolf Sports Center. The contest opened WIAC play for both teams.

All-America candidate KJ Evans led UW-Whitewater (5-1, 1-0 WIAC) with 23 points and eight rebounds. The Warhawks also received 16 points, seven assists and six steals from Quardell Young and 13 points and six rebounds from Xzavier Moananu. Ron Patten added 12 points and six rebounds and Steve Egan 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

UW-Oshkosh (3-2, 0-1 WIAC) had three double-figure scorers of its own, including AJ Mueller who scored a career-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 accuracy from the free-throw line. Alex Olson scored 16 points for a season best and Taylor Jansen 12. Mueller and Max Schebel led the Titans with four rebounds apiece.

UW-Oshkosh scored the game's first four points and held an 8-6 lead with 15:02 left in the first half. UW-Whitewater then went on a 9-2 scoring run to take a lead that it wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the contest.

The Titans got as close as 17-14 following a pair of Andre Wallace free throws with 9:48 left in the opening period, but the Warhawks responded with five straight points.

UW-Whitewater went on to build a 40-29 lead before settling for a 40-31 advantage at intermission. Evans had 14 points for UW-Whitewater and Mueller 13 for UW-Oshkosh in the first half.

UW-Oshkosh stayed within single digits of UW-Whitewater for a good portion of the second half, including a three-point deficit (49-46) following a Mueller lay-up with 12:30 to play.

The Titans trailed 58-53 before the Warhawks scored five straight points to take a 63-53 advantage with 7:43 remaining. UW-Whitewater broke away in forging a 67-57 lead with 5:13 left by scoring 11 of the game's final 13 points.

UW-Oshkosh shot 43.2 percent (19-44) from the field, but just 20 percent (2-10) behind the three-point line. The Titans made 19 of their 26 free throws (73.1 percent) while committing 14 turnovers.

UW-Whitewater, which entered the game ranked third in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, shot 51.8 percent (29-56) from the field. The Warhawks made eight of their 17 three-point shots (47.1 percent) and 12 of their 16 free throws (75 percent). UW-Whitewater committed 14 turnovers while collecting 37 of the game's 58 rebounds.

UW-Oshkosh travels to Mankato, Minn., for a non-conference game at Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday (Dec. 6).