Love, Pearson Lead Pioneers To Sixth Straight WIAC Win

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (15-2, 6-0 WIAC) picked up a sixth straight conference win with a 95-75 home win over UW-Stout (8-9, 3-3 WIAC) on Saturday afternoon from Bo Ryan Court.

The Pioneers offense was red hot to begin the game as sophomore Max Love, junior Brady Olson, and seniors Logan Pearson and Ben Probst each made threes to help the team get out to a 19-9 lead in just over five minutes. The lead reached 16 on a pair of jumpers by Pearson but the Blue Devils rallied with a 14-2 run to trail 35-31 with five minutes left in the half. UW-Platteville built the lead back up to double digits on back-to-back threes by Love and Pearson and the score sat 48-42 at the break.

Baskets by senior Brad Nies and Love pushed the lead back to double figures and the Pioneers maintained that edge until threes by Probst and Pearson made it 80-62 with just over seven minutes left. Sophomore Joey Fuhremann put UW-Platteville in front by 21 with four minutes left and the Blue Devils were unable to get closer than 19 in the closing minutes as the Pioneers wrapped up the 95-75 win.

Love led the team with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Pearson nearly matched him with 25 points of his own on 8-of-15 from the floor as the duo shared the team lead in rebounds with eight apiece. Probst also reached double digits with 10 points.

UW-Platteville shot 46.7 percent (35-of-75) from the floor in the win, including 41.9 percent (13-of-31) from downtown.

After UW-Stout shot 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the field in the first half, the Pioneers defense tightened in the second half, as they allowed the Blue Devils to shoot just 27.6 percent (8-of-29) in the final 20 minutes.

The Pioneers dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Blue Devils 45-26. On the offensive glass, UW-Platteville held an 18-4 advantage, which led to a 25-5 lead in second chance points.

UW-Platteville remains at home to take on UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. for the annual Garding Against Cancer game.