With forward Rob Perry (Milwaukee/Dominican) and eading scorer Matt Goodwin (Milwaukee/Rufus King) sitting out because of injuries, junior forward Kori Vernon (Madison/Memorial) and junior guard Myles McKay (Milwaukee/Menomonee Falls) picked up the slack to lead UW-Whitewater to a 78-67 win over UW-Stout Monday night in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first round game in Kachel Gym of Williams Center.  The Warhawks, the number one seed as the WIAC champion, will host fifth-seeded UW-Superior, a 67-66 winner over fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh, Wednesday at 7:00.  UW-W students will get free admission, compliments of DLK Enterprises, to the  WIAC Tournament semifinal (Wednesday men, Thursday women) and final (Saturday) games, men and women,  by showing their ID at the door.


box score

Stout had seven point leads at 9-2 and 11-4 early in the game.  Whitewater went on a 7-0 run to knot the game at 11 with 12:34 left in the half.  The teams kept it close for the next five minutes, and guard Miles Webb hit a three-pointer with 7:33 left to give the Blue Devils their final lead of the game, 22-20.    Whitewater closed the half with a 19-4 run to lead 39-26 at intermission.

Whitewater led 71-54 with 3:28 remaining in the game.  Stout scored the next nine points, all of them courtesy of Webb, to make it 71-63 with 1:49 left.  McKay had four free throws in the last thirty seconds of the game to maintain UW-W's winning margin.

Vernon, coming off a career high 26 points against UW-River Falls Saturday, notched a double double with 19 points and a game high 13 rebounds.  Nine of those boards came on the offensive glass.  McKay led Whitewater with 22 points, also adding seven rebounds and three assists.  Senior forward  Billy Kolinske (Big Bend/Waukesha Memorial) contributed 14 points for UW-W, nine coming in the second half.  Point guard Kevin Koski (Jefferson/Jefferson) dished out five assists and grabbed eight rebounds. 

McKay has scored in double figures the last four games, and in eleven of the last twelve contests. 

The Blue Devils were led by Webb, who topped all scorers with 24 points, including 5-8 from three point range.  The last time an opponent hit five or more three's in a game was January 2 of this season, when Reid Barringer of North Central hit 7-13 attempts.  Stout freshman forward Eric Hostetter chipped in with 13 points.  Junior guard Alex Mason had a game best six assists.

The Warhawks owned the backboards, out-rebounding the Blue Devils 40-18.  Whitewater had as many offensive rebounds as Stout totaled in the game.  Whitewater also enjoyed an advantage at the line, hitting a season high 89.5%.  Stout hit 8-10 free throws.

Whitewater, ranked fourth in the D3hoops.com poll, is 22-4.  UW-Stout ends the season 7-19, and Superior comes in to the semifinal with a 12-14 record.

For additional information:
Pat Miller, UW-W coach
WIAC men's basketball site