Titans Leave Superior With WIAC Win
Alex Olson poured in 22 points and the UW-Oshkosh defense shined in the Titans' 61-54 men's basketball win over UW-Superior on Saturday (Jan. 3) in Superior.
The Titans, who won in Superior for the first time in six tries, limited the high-scoring Yellowjackets to season lows in points, field goal percentage (.327) and 3-point percentage (.136). UW-Superior entered the game averaging 75 points and shooting 43.9 percent from the field.
UW-Oshkosh (7-5, 1-2 WIAC) held its seventh opponent of the season to less than 60 points.
Olson has reached double-figure scoring in six consecutive contests, including 22 or more points in the last three games. He converted 6 of 14 shots from the field and 8 of 11 free throws against the Yellowjackets.
Charlie Noone added a career-high 10 points for UW-Oshkosh while AJ Mueller chipped in with nine points and a game-high seven rebounds.
The Titans converted 41 percent (16-39) of their shots from the floor, 60 percent (3-5) of their attempts from beyond the arc and 70.3 percent (26-37) of its tosses from the free throw line. It was the most free throws UW-Oshkosh attempted in the 91 contests since shooting 40 against Elmhurst College (Ill.) on Dec. 21, 2010.
Trailing 8-5 at the 15:58 mark, UW-Oshkosh scored seven straight points on layups by Kyle Bolger and Max Schebel and a three-point play by Sean Dwyer with 14:08 left in the first half.
Both teams went scoreless for more than five minutes until a 3-pointer by UW-Superior's John Denny trimmed the Yellowjacket deficit to 14-13 with just over eight minutes to go in the opening period. The long-range basket began an eight-point run that gave UW-Superior its largest lead at 18-14 at the 5:19 mark.
UW-Oshkosh responded with an 11-point run of its own to close the half with a 25-18 advantage at the break. The Titans made 2 of 3 shots from the floor and tallied six points from the line during the last five minutes of the period while the Yellowjackets missed their last seven from the field and committed four turnovers during the stretch.
Olson connected on a 3-pointer to open the scoring in the second half and extend the UW-Oshkosh run to 14 points for a 28-18 lead.
UW-Superior claimed 10 of the next 15 points to split its deficit to 33-28 with 16:21 to play, but a three-point play by Noone, two layups by Olson and a jumper by Taylor Jansen increased the Titans' advantage to 42-28 with 11 minutes remaining.
A jumper by Noone tied UW-Oshkosh's largest lead of 14 points at 44-30 with 9:36 left, but UW-Superior rattled off 19 of the next 26 points to pull within 51-49 with 1:19 to play.
UW-Superior fouled immediately on the ensuing inbounds pass, and Bolger converted two free throws for a four-point lead at the 1:18 mark.
A layup by UW-Superior's Taylor Mattison cut UW-Oshkosh advantage to 57-54 with 40 seconds left, but the Titans recorded the last four points of the contest from the free throw line.
UW-Oshkosh secured the victory by making 10 of 12 throws from the charity stripe during the last 1:18.
The teams combined to attempt 41 field goals and 42 free throws in the second half.
Ty Ketz paced UW-Superior (7-6, 1-3 WIAC) with 17 points while Zach Schradle added 12.
UW-Oshkosh returns home to face UW-River Falls on Wednesday (Jan. 7) in Kolf Sports Center.