Box Score
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 7-ranked Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team saw an 8-point halftime lead disappear early in the second half and never caught up, falling by a 71-65 score to No. 3-ranked Wis.-Whitewater at the Shirk Center on Tuesday (Nov. 27).
Illinois Wesleyan falls to 4-1 this season while the Warhawks improved to 4-0.
Whitewater shot a blistering 69.2 percent (18 of 26) in the second half and came back from trailing 28-25 at intermission by scoring the first eight points of the second half to lead 33-28. Darnell Harris lit the Titans up for 32 points on 11 of 19 from the floor, including 6 of 8 from 3-point land.
The Warhawks held a nine-point lead at 39-30 with 15:10 to play before IWU went on an 11-2 run to tie the issue at 41-41 with 12:20 to play. The game was tied again at 43-43 and 45-45 before the Warhawks took command, outscoring IWU 23-12 n the next nine minutes to take an 11-point 68-57 advantage with just over a minute to play.
The Titans committed 25 turnovers compared to 11 for the defending Division III national champions, and IWU held a commanding 34-21 rebound edge, led by 9 boards from senior
Kevin Reed and six from junior
Nick Anderson off the bench.
The Titans had four players score in double figures, led by junior
Victor Davis with 13. Junior
Brady Zimmer came off the bench to score 11 and Reed and sophomore
Parker Musselman each scored 10. Reed also handed out a team-high five assists.
Luke Knoble scored 18 points and Quardell Young added 11 for the Warhawks. Harris and Eric Bryson each grabbed six boards for UW-W.
Illinois Wesleyan shot 50.0 from the field (25 of 50) and made 7 of 17 from beyond the 3-point stripe (41.2 percent). IWU connected on 8 of 11 free throws (72.7 percent).
The Warhawks shot 53.5 percent in the entire game (28 of 52) and hit 7 of 15 3-pointers (46.7 percent). Whitewater struggled at the stripe, making only 8 of 15 tries.
The Titans play the Jumbos of Tufts University at 6 p.m. on Friday in the 29th annual Lopata Classic in St. Louis. The host school, No. 10-ranked Washington U., and Wilmington meet in the other Friday game with the consolation and final games at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday.
