Pioneers host UW-River Falls in semifinals of WIAC Tournament

Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team will open the 2021 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament (presented by Culver's) tonight when UW-River Falls visits Bo Ryan Court for a 7 p.m. tip off.

The Pioneers earned the number one seed in the WIAC West Division with a division record of 5-1 and overall record of 6-2.  UW-River Falls is the number two seed out of the WIAC East Division with a 3-2 division record and overall record of 5-3.  UW-River Falls defeated UW-Whitewater 81-76 in the first round of the tournament, while the Pioneers received a bye due to UW-Eau Claire suspending their season due to COVID-19 protocols.

Due to the shortened season, this will be the first meeting of the season between the Pioneers and Falcons. It will be the fifth time the Pioneers and Falcons have meet in the WIAC tournament.  The Pioneers won the first two meetings and the Falcons won the last two. 

Senior Quentin Shields leads the Pioneers in scoring (16.4) and assists (3.25).  Kyle Tuma is the Pioneers' leading rebounder, pulling down 6.4 boards a game.  The Pioneers are averaging 72 points a game while allowing 66.8.  They are the second-best free throw shooting team, hitting 80.3% of their free throws. 

Jeff Gard is in his 12th season as head coach of the Pioneers, with a career record of 186-118. 

Alex Ohde is the WIAC top rebounder, averaging 11.4 a game. He also leads the Falcons in scoring at 20.0 points per contest. Bryce Phillips is the Falcons' top assist man, averaging 3.25 dimes a game. The Falcons lead the WIAC in free throw shooting, shooting 81.8% from the charity stripe. The Falcons come in averaging 71.8 points a game, while allowing 76.4 points a contest.

Jeff Berkhof is in his 15th season as head coach of the Falcons, with a career record of 195-182.

The winner will advance to the championship game and will play the winner of UW-Oshkosh at UW-La Crosse. If the Pioneers and Titans win Wednesday, the number two seed UW-Oshkosh will travel to number one seed Platteville. In the event that both UW-Platteville and UW-La Crosse win Wednesday night, a coin flip tie-breaker determined UW-La Crosse would host the game in the event that both the number one seeds of the East and West divisions remain.

With COVID-19 restriction of no fans, Pioneer fans can watch the livestream with Daryl Fischer on the play-by-play and Chancellor Dennis J. Shields on the color commentary.