Pioneers Advance To WIAC Championship With Win Over UW-Stout

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – Behind 31 points from senior Logan Pearson, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (22-4) beat UW-Stout (12-15) 91-84 in the WIAC Semifinals on Thursday night on Bo Ryan Court. The Pioneers advance to the WIAC Championship game for the eighth time on Saturday at 7 p.m. against UW-River Falls.

The Pioneers led 41-40 at the break in a first half that featured six lead changes and five ties. Much of UW-Platteville's success in the half came at the basket, with the Pioneers shooting 17-of-34 from the floor and scoring 28 points in the paint. But UW-Stout countered by going 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from three-point range to keep the game close.

Both offenses continued to flourish in the second half, with each team shooting over 50 percent from the field. UW-Platteville held a slim lead midway through the half until back-to-back Blue Devils jumpers evened the game at 60 with 10:43 to play. Pearson scored the next six points for the Pioneers, answering UW-Stout points each time, to keep UW-Platteville in front by one.

With 5:26 to play, junior Brady Olson knocked down a three as the shot clock ran out to increase the lead to four at 76-72. After the Blue Devils cut it back down to two, sophomore Miles Hettinger converted a tough layup and earned the and-one to increase the Pioneers lead to five. UW-Stout answered with a three to get back within two once again, but a layup by Pearson and a dunk by Hettinger made it 85-79 with one minute to play. Freshman Bristol Lewis and Pearson made all six free throw attempts in the final minute as the Pioneers won 91-84.

Pearson finished with a game-high 31 points on 13-of-26 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds to record the double-double. Twenty-three of those points came in the second half as Pearson scored nearly half of the team's points in the final 20 minutes. Lewis joined him in double figures with a career-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Hettinger and senior Ben Probst each tallied seven.

UW-Platteville shot 51.4 percent (36-of-70) from the floor in the contest but sat at just 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from beyond the arc. The Pioneers were strong at the free throw line, shooting 87.5 percent (14-of-16). The Blue Devils also shot over 50 percent for the game at 51.6 percent (32-of-62) and were 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from three-point range.

Fifty-six of the Pioneers 91 points came in the paint as the team shot 63.6 percent (28-of-44) from that area. UW-Platteville forced 13 turnovers in the game, with those resulting in 16 points.

*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a $3 Pioneer burger the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering 10 tacos for $10 the day after each Pioneer win.