Pioneers Collect Several WIAC Postseason Awards

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team brought home several WIAC postseason major awards on Tuesday, highlighted by a second straight Kwik Trip Player of the Year for senior Logan Pearson. Head Coach Jeff Gard was tabbed Kwik Trip Coach of the Year, while senior Ben Probst was named the Max Sparger Scholar Athlete as well as WIAC Honorable Mention.

Junior Max Love joined Pearson on the All-WIAC list, while senior Brady Olson earned Honorable Mention and All-Defensive. Junior Joey Fuhremann picked up Honorable Mention honors and sophomore Lucas Rameker was the Pioneers All-Sportsmanship member.

Pearson continued to etch his name into the UW-Platteville record books throughout the course of another fantastic season. Claiming his second straight WIAC Player of the Year honors, Pearson became the Pioneers all-time leading scorer in a win on January 15 before later becoming just the eighth player in WIAC history to reach 2,000 career points. The Kimberly native enters the NCAA Tournament with 2,064 career points and averaged 19.5 points per game this season across 27 starts. In addition to his scoring prowess, Pearson averaged 4.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He scored a season-high 35 points in the opener against Calvin and dropped a pair of 22-point games in the Pioneers run through the WIAC Tournament.

Gard was named Coach of the Year for the second straight year, and third time overall, after guiding the Pioneers to both the WIAC regular season and conference tournament titles. UW-Platteville enters the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the past eight seasons with an overall record of 25-2.

Probst, who was announced as the Max Sparger Scholar Athlete prior to Friday night's WIAC Tournament Championship game, earned WIAC Honorable Mention honors for the second consecutive year. The senior averaged 10.4 points while starting all 27 games for the Pioneers. Probst continued to operate as one of the top three-point shooters in the conference, hitting on 37.5 percent of his attempts. He broke a pair of UW-Platteville three-point records over the course of the season, hitting eight in a single game against Augustana before later becoming the program's all-time three-point leader with 254 and counting.

Love collected his second straight All-WIAC selection after averaging 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. The junior shot 41.0 percent from the floor on the season and was one of the team's top free throw shooters, converting on 87.5 percent of his attempts from the stripe. Love matched his career-high with 27 points on 10-of-11 against Heidelberg on November 30 and had 20-point outings in conference play against UW-Oshkosh and UW-La Crosse.

Olson started all 27 games while averaging 7.7 points and a career-high 4.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The senior headlined one of the top defensive teams in the conference, proving to be a lockdown defender on the perimeter for a unit that allowed opponents to shoot just 41.7 percent from the floor and 28.9 percent from three, both WIAC lows. Olson shot a career-best 35.4 percent from beyond the arc, with that mark jumping up to 38.3 percent in conference play.

Fuhremann put together an extremely efficient season, averaging 8.9 points per game while shooting a conference-leading 70.8 percent from the floor. The junior was also the Pioneers top rebounder, securing 6.9 boards per game, including 2.6 on the offensive glass, which tied for second-most per game in the WIAC. Fuhremann recorded a pair of double-doubles in conference-play and pulled down a season-high 17 rebounds in a win over St. Norbert on December 30.

Rameker stepped into a part-time role for the Pioneers in his second season, playing just over six minutes per game across his 24 contests. The sophomore scored a career-high five points in a win over Bethany Lutheran on December 29.