Pioneers Post Season-High In Points Against Blue Devils

MENOMONIE, Wis. – Five players reached double digits in points as the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (21-4, 12-2 WIAC) closed the regular season with a 110-83 road win over UW-Stout (11-14, 6-8 WIAC) on Saturday evening from Johnson Fieldhouse.

Junior Brady Olson scored eight the Pioneers first 15 points as UW-Platteville led by seven just over five minutes into the game. The Blue Devils responded with a 10-point run in the coming minutes to move in front 23-19 midway through the half, but senior Logan Pearson ended the run with a jumper. The two teams traded buckets for the final 10 minutes of the half and the game sat even at 43 at the break.

UW-Platteville went on a 23-10 run in the first five minutes of the second half to take a 66-53 lead. The Pioneers continued that offensive momentum for the remainder of the game, shooting 69.4 percent (25-of-36) from the floor and 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from beyond the arc in the half en route to scoring 67 points. The Blue Devils were unable to get back within single digits after the early UW-Platteville run as the Pioneers scored a season-high 110 points.

Five players reached double figures for the Pioneers, led by Pearson's 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Senior Ben Probst added 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and four made threes, while Olson posted a season-high 17 points. Freshman Bristol Lewis finished with 14 points off the bench and sophomore Max Love tallied 13.

UW-Platteville shot 58.5 percent (40-of-68) from the field in the game and 41.7 percent (15-of-36) from three-point range. The Pioneers were strong from the free throw line as well, going 15-of-18 (83.3 percent).

The Blue Devils shot the ball well despite the loss, finishing at 54.0 percent (27-of-50). UW-Stout struggled a bit from deep (23.8 percent) but made 24-of-27 attempts from the free throw line (88.9 percent).

The Pioneers enter the upcoming 2024 WIAC Men's Basketball Tournament as the top overall seed, and receive the first round bye on Tuesday. UW-Platteville will host the lowest remaining seed on Thursday night at 7 p.m.