Jan. 11
By Daniel Schoettler
The UW-Whitewater men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to seven games with a 90-51 victory over the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds Saturday night.
The Warhawks had a big night from junior point guard Quardell Young, who scored a career high 25 points in the win. Young was 10-10 from the field and also shot 4-5 from the free throw line.
“I felt we played pretty strong throughout the whole game,” Young said. “Throughout the whole game, we kept our composure throughout the cause. We got in transition pretty early, which took advantage of other opportunities.”
The ’Hawks got up early by going up six at 15-9 not even five minutes into the game after junior guard K.J. Evans hit a three off an assist from fellow guard Alex Merg. The closest the Blugolds got to the ’Hawks was at the 14:07 mark of the first half when they cut the lead to four at 15-11 after an Adam Hjelter jumper.
The ’Hawks then took over the game, going on a 20-0 run in six minutes extending the lead to 35-11 with 7:38 left in the half. The teams went back and forth the rest of the half, and at halftime the ’Hawks led by 23 at 43-20.
In the second half, the closest the Blugolds got was within 21 points at 51-30 within the first 3:15 of the half. The ’Hawks stretched the lead out to 39 twice.
For the game, the ’Hawks shot 55.7 percent from the field, including 8-for-18 on 3-pointers. The team shot 70 percent from the free throw line, hitting 14 of their 20 free throws.
The Blugolds shot 40.9 percent from the field, including 5-for-16 on 3-pointers. The Blugolds shot 52.6 percent from the line converting on 10 of their 19 free throws.
“Coming in we felt they were going to shoot a lot of threes,” head coach Pat Miller said. “Our goal was to defend the perimeter and force them to shoot contested shots. Not allow them to get their feet set and shoot uncontested shots. I don’t think [the Blugolds] had very many good looks at all.”
Young wasn’t the only Warhawk in double digits in Saturday’s win. Evans as well as junior forward Steve Egan both contributed 12 points each in the win. Senior guard Patrick Souter was the leading rebounder for the ’Hawks with seven.
“I thought everybody played well,” Miller said. “I thought Quardell was very good tonight. Going into games, typically offensively we look at different things whether it is to establish the inside or create mismatches at different positions. We really felt that this was a game that Quardell could have a big game if we got their bigs out on the perimeter.”
The Warhawks with the win improve to 12-2 overall and are now 3-2 in the WIAC play. They will next play Chas Cross, who was a preseason All-American, and the UW-Platteville Pioneers at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night in Kachel Gym.
