Three Titans Collect All-WIAC Basketball First Team Honors
Levi Borchert, Eddie Muench and Hunter Plamann were each named to the First Team to headline UW-Oshkosh's selections to the 2021 All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Team.
All five UW-Oshkosh starters received conference recognition as Will Mahoney was also named to the Honorable Mention Team and Eric Peterson to the All-Defensive Team.
Borchert, a sophomore forward, received First Team honors after garnering All-WIAC Honorable Mention and Newcomer of the Year accolades last season. Senior guard Muench, junior guards Peterson and Plamann, and sophomore guard Mahoney picked up their first conference honors. The Titans' lone outgoing senior, guard Tommy McGlynn, was chosen to the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked 13th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, finished the season with a 5-2 record that included a five-game winning streak between Feb. 5 through March 1 before falling by a 75-72 score at 14th-ranked UW-La Crosse during the semifinal round of the WIAC Championship on March 3.
The Titans ended the year leading the WIAC in scoring (80.3), rebounding (37.1), per-game assists (13.7) and made 3-pointers (10.6), 3-point percentage (.418) and 3-point percentage defense (.294).
Borchert averaged 14.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game this season. One of two WIAC players to average a double-double on the year, Borchert paced the league with a .667 (40-60) field goal percentage while ranking second in the conference in rebounding and eighth in assists per game.
Borchert had four double-doubles this year, recording 11 points and 14 rebounds during a 77-68 win over UW-Platteville on Feb. 5, 17 points and 12 boards in a 78-59 victory at UW-Whitewater on Feb. 12, 16 points and a career-best 18 rebounds during a 76-62 win at UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 17, and 16 points and 10 boards in the 75-72 setback at UW-La Crosse. Borchert, who upped his total to eight career double-doubles, also poured in a career-best 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds during a 98-89 triumph over UW-Stout in the first round of the WIAC Championship on March 1.
Muench paced the Titans in scoring four times this season and concluded the year averaging a team-leading 18.9 points per game to go along with 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest. Muench, who shot 51.5 percent (50-97) from the field and 42.4 percent (25-59) from 3-point range, led the conference with 3.6 made 3-pointers per game and ranked fourth in points and 10th in assists per contest.
Muench had a team-leading 27 points in an 88-75 setback at UW-Platteville during the season opener Feb. 3, 25 points in the win at UW-Whitewater on Feb. 12, 23 points during the victory at UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 17, and 20 points in the semifinal loss at UW-La Crosse on March 3.
Plamann averaged 15.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and a team-high 4.1 assists in his first season with the Titans since transferring from NCAA Division II's University of Minnesota Duluth. Plamann, who shot 47.9 percent (34-71) from the floor and 52.4 percent (11-21) from beyond the 3-point arc, converted each of his 30 free throw attempts this season to tie for the third longest streak in program history. UW-Oshkosh's Brad Clark had streaks of 30 and 33 consecutive made free throws, while Jake Browarski holds the program record with 45 made free throws in a row.
Plamann capped his debut Titan season ranked second in the WIAC in assists per game, third in 3-point percentage, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.93) and eighth in scoring. He went for a season-high 27 points and dished out six assists during the win over UW-Stout in the WIAC tournament opener March 1.
Mahoney added 13.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game this season, scoring a season-best 17 points during back-to-back home wins by scores of 86-66 over UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 19 and 98-89 versus UW-Stout on March 1.
Mahoney, who went 15 of 38 (39.5 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc this year, ranked fourth in the conference in made 3-pointers per game and 10th in assists per contest.
Peterson chipped in 8.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per contest this season to go along with a team-leading 1.3 steals per game, which ranked ninth in the league. Peterson, who grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss at UW-Platteville on Feb. 3, scored a team- and season-high 17 points during the home victory over UW-Platteville on Feb. 5. He also collected four steals in the win at UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 17.
UW-La Crosse's Wyatt Cook and Kent Dernbach were voted WIAC Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, while UW-Stout's Lovell Williams was named Newcomer of the Year and UW-Platteville's Justin Fox the Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The 10-member All-WIAC First Team included UW-La Crosse's Cook and Ethan Anderson, UW-Platteville's Quentin Shields and Justin Stovall, UW-River Falls' Alex Ohde, UW-Stevens Point's Philip Flory, and UW-Whitewater's Gage Malensek.
Rounding out the nine-member All-WIAC Honorable Mention Team were UW-Eau Claire's Cam Kuepers, UW-La Crosse's Seth Anderson, UW-Platteville's Kyle Tuma, UW-River Falls' Noah Hanson, UW-Stevens Point's Garrett Nelson, UW-Stout's TYreese Alexander and Armani Tinsley, and UW-Whitewater's Trevon Chisholm.
Joining Peterson on the WIAC All-Defensive Team were Seth Anderson and Sean Suchomel from UW-La Crosse, Stovall from UW-Platteville and Alex Voight from UW-Eau Claire.
Ninth-ranked UW-Platteville (8-2) earned WIAC regular season and tournament titles with a 74-47 win at UW-La Crosse (8-3) during the league postseason championship game March 5.