Twice as nice.  UW-Whitewater men's basketball will host the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title game Saturday after defeating UW-Superior 86-70 Thursday night in a tournament semifinal at Kachel Gym in Williams Center.  The Warhawks will host UW-Stevens Point at 7:00 Saturday, an 87-72 winner over UW-Stout in the other semifinal Thursday.  The men's game will be preceded by the WIAC Women's Tournament championship game, matching the same two schools, at 3:00.

box score

photo gallery (courtesy of Tim Gumz)

Superior sprinted out to an 8-0 lead, but Whitewater responded with seven straight.  The teams traded runs again and it settled down to a three point lead, for both teams, the rest of the half.  Superior led 36-35 at the half.

Whitewater scored the first basket of the second half, followed by a Jake Smith jumper that gave the Yellowjackets their only lead of the second half.  With UW-W leading 43-42 at 15:44 the Warhawks tacked on nine straight points to build the first double figure lead of the game, 52-42.  Superior could not get the gap below nine points the rest of the way.

UW-W shot 63% from the field in the second half, including 43% from beyond the arc. 

UW-W enjoyed a 42-24 rebound margin, with senior center Dustin Mitchell (Lac Du Flambeau/Lakeland) accounting for 11 of those for game honors.  Mitchell also scored 21 points, to give him his eleventh double double of the season, as well as three blocked shots.  Senior forward Mike Bendall (Oconomowoc/Oconomowoc) also poured in 21 points with four assists, and senior guard Dupree Fletcher (Milwaukee/Rufus King) added 16 points and a game high three steals.  

Superior was led by junior forward Jake Smith's 21 points and eight rebounds.  Junior guard Dan Culy and senior guard Dwight Hill added 13 and 11, respectively. 

WIAC Tournament web site

UW-Whitewater, the WIAC champion and 23-4 overall, is ranked eighth in the D3hoops.com poll.  UW-Stevens Point, the WIAC runner-up and 22-4, is ranked ninth in the national poll.

For additional information:  Pat Miller, UW-W coach