Borchert, Lewis Highlight Titans' All-WIAC Basketball Selections
UW-Oshkosh's Levi Borchert was named Player of the Year and Matt Lewis received Coach of the Year honors to headline the 2022 All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Team.
UW-Oshkosh (22-3) clinched both the WIAC regular season and tournament titles this season and heads into the NCAA Division III Championship ranked third in the country by D3hoops.com.
Borchert is the seventh Titan to garner WIAC Player of the Year accolades, joining John Lallensack (1968), Ralph Sims (1977, 1978), Tim Dworak (2002, 2003), D.J. Marsh (2009), Ben Boots (2019) and Adam Fravert (2020).
Lewis was also tabbed WIAC Coach of the Year in 2019. UW-Oshkosh Athletics Hall of Fame inductees Bob White (1967, 1968, 1978) and Ted Van Dellen (1996) previously earned WIAC Coach of the Year plaudits with the program.
UW-Oshkosh's Eddie Muench and Hunter Plamann were also selected to the 10-member All-WIAC First Team. Five Titans collected all-conference recognition as Quinn Steckbauer was chosen among 10 players on the Honorable Mention Team and Eric Peterson was named to the five-member All-Defensive Team. JT Petrie represented UW-Oshkosh on the All-Sportsmanship Team.
Borchert, Muench and Plamann were each named to the All-WIAC First Team in 2021. Peterson was voted to the All-Defensive Team for the second straight year, and Steckbauer earned his first all-league honor.
Rounding out the All-WIAC First Team were UW-La Crosse's Ethan Anderson and Wyatt Cook, UW-Platteville's Quentin Shields and Kyle Tuma, UW-River Falls' Noah Hanson, UW-Stout's Lovell Williams and UW-Whitewater's Derek Gray.
Joining Peterson on the All-Defensive Team were Jon Ciriacks from UW-Stout, Justin Stovall from UW-Platteville, Sean Suchomel from UW-La Crosse and Brock Voigt from UW-Eau Claire.
Rod Payne from UW-River Falls was chosen as the WIAC Newcomer of the Year.
Borchert, the 2020 WIAC Newcomer of the Year, is averaging 18.6 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 62.1% from the field this season. Borchert, a 2021 D3hoops.com Third Team All-American, is the conference leader in rebounding and with double-doubles (14) while ranking second in scoring and field goal percentage.
Borchert has scored at least 13 points in all but one game this season, producing a career-best 32 points on 14 of 20 shooting from the floor to go along with 15 rebounds during a win over UW-River Falls on Jan. 22. Borchert also had 18 points and career high-tying 18 rebounds against St. Norbert College before going on to notch seven double-doubles versus conference rivals.
Muench is averaging 15.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists on the year. Muench, who tops the conference with 69 made 3-pointers, has scored in double figures on 19 occasions this season, including a career-high 30-point effort against Calvin University (Mich.) on Dec. 29 and a 27-point performance on 7-for-8 shooting from 3-point range against UW-La Crosse on Feb. 12.
Plamann averages 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per contest this season. Plamann, whose 96 assists rank fourth in the conference, had a season-high 26 points and a career-best eight assists against UW-Whitewater on Feb. 24 and 24 points versus Illinois Wesleyan University on Nov. 13 among his 16 double-figure scoring showings on the year.
Steckbauer is fourth on the squad with 10.3 points per game. Steckbauer, shooting 47.7% from the floor this season, has produced 10 or more points 12 times this season, including a career-high 25 against UW-Whitewater on Jan. 5 and 20 versus Ripon College on Dec. 30.
Peterson is providing 6.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest this season. Peterson, who ranks eighth in the conference in rebounding, collected 10 boards and a career-best five steals against Concordia University Wisconsin on Nov. 8 before scoring a season-high 15 versus UW-Platteville on Feb. 26.
UW-Oshkosh secured its 14th conference regular season title and fifth league postseason crown this year. The Titans had won both WIAC championships in the same season just once previously – in 2002.
The Titans begin the Division III Championship at home Friday (March 4). UW-Oshkosh, making its sixth consecutive NCAA postseason appearance, plays Blackburn College (Ill.) in the opening round of the four-team regional that also includes Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) and University of Dubuque (Iowa).