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Brady Kuehl driving towards the basket
© AshtinElder
69
UChicago UC 2-1,0-0 UAA
72
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 3-0,0-0 CCIW
UChicago UC
2-1,0-0 UAA
69
Final
72
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
3-0,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UChicago UC 30 39 69
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 42 30 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men's Hoops Clips No. 11 Chicago

Titans move to 3-0

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In a battle of two nationally ranked teams, the 16th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University men's basketball team topped 11th-ranked University of Chicago, 72-69, inside the Shirk Center Wednesday night, Nov. 19. The Titans moved to 3-0 on the year, while they handed the Maroons (2-1) their first loss of the season.

A balanced night saw five Titans finish in double figures, led by sophomore Noah Cleveland's (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community) 14 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Josh Fridman (Northbroom, Ill.-Glenbrook North) chipped in a dozen, while juniors Casen Lawrence (St. Louis, Mo.-Westminster Christian) and Brady Kuehl (St. Louis, Mo.-Parkway West) each tallied 11. Kuehl's career-high point total came alongside a career-best four blocks. Senior Karlo Colak (Glencoe, Ill.-New Trier) added 10 points and a team-leading five assists.

Illinois Wesleyan presented former Titan hooper and now UC graduate student Nick Roper with his College Sports Communicators Academic All-America award prior to tipoff.  Roper finished with 14 points and eight rebounds in his return to the Shirk Center.

Overall, Illinois Wesleyan shot 56.9 percent from the floor, converting on 29-of-51 shots. The Titans were 10-of-18 from three-point range and just 4-for-9 at the charity stripe. The Maroons knocked down 26-of-59 shot attempts, good for a 44.1 clip. UC jacked up 28 three-pointers, converting eight, while going 9-for-12 in free throws. 

IWU held leads in steals (8-4), blocks (8-1), points off turnovers (24-12), bench scoring (18-14), and fastbreak scoring (11-0). Chicago collected a slight edge in points in the paint (34-32) alongside advantages in rebounding (36-22) and second-chance scoring (15-4).

The Titans came out red hot from the floor, connecting on 18-of-27 shot attempts over the first half to drive ahead by as many as 14. The Green and White stretched the lead to three on a shifty play at the rim by Cleveland before Kuel hit his second triple of the day to push IWU ahead, 39-25, with 2:57 left in the first half. 

Chicago climbed back with a five-point spurt, but Lawrence drilled a stepback three-pointer with a defender in his face at the buzzer to send the home team into the half leading, 42-30.

The Maroons came out of the break strong, quickly cutting the Titan lead to three, 43-40, but the Green and White used a seven-point run to regain control. Colak found junior Mason Funk (Normal, Ill.-University High) for a triple to start the run. Funk followed with a swipe and score before Colak fed Cleveland for a two-hand slam. The run catapulted the Titans ahead, 50-39.

Chicago clawed back to within four, 66-62, with 5:29 to play to force a Ron Rose timeout. Junior Brady Ruggles (Wheaton, Ill.-Danville) converted a free throw out of the reset, and Kuehl picked the pocket of the Maroons to put the Titans back on the offensive. Fridman kept momentum with the home team and brought a rowdy Shirk crowd to its feet with a four-point play. After nailing a wing triple, Fridman made the free throw to give IWU a nine-point cushion, 71-62.

UC strung together three straight scores in a span of just under two minutes to make things interesting late. Leading by just three, 71-68, with 1:13 on the clock, Illinois Wesleyan had a shot fall off the rim and into the hands of the Maroons.

With eyes on the game-tying shot, Chicago was fouled. The Maroons hit the front end of two free throws, but the second was pulled in for a UC offensive board to tighten the game in the final minutes. Corralling the ball in the paint, Chicago's pass was knocked away and stolen by Colak, who quickly fed the ball up court to Fridman. 

The sophomore point guard was promptly fouled and made 1-of-2 freebies to regain a three-point lead for IWU, 72-69. UC had one more opportunity for late game heroics, but senior David Williams (Peoria, Ill.-Peoria Notre Dame) disrupted a shot to secure the victory. 

With a three-game homestand complete, Illinois Wesleyan hits the road for the Albion Tournament Friday-Saturday, Nov. 21-22. The Titans will face Wisconsin Lutheran College Friday, Nov. 21 at 5 p.m. ET, before clashing with either Albion College or Kenyon College Saturday, Nov. 22.

 
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