Box Score For the third time in four games this season UW-Whitewater forced more than twenty turnovers as the third-ranked Warhawks defeated number seven Illinois Wesleyan University 71-65 at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Illinois Tuesday.  It didn't hurt that freshman forward Darnell Harris (Milwaukee/Hamilton) went off for 32 points, 21 in the second half as UW-W, 4-0, overcame a halftime deficit.

Illinois Wesleyan sprinted out to an 8-0 lead, six of those coming from junior forward Victor Davis.  The Titans made that margin stand up for most of the half, with Whitewater eventually whittling the margin to 17-16 at 5:17 by junior forward Reggie Hearn (Milwaukee/Marshall).  The Titans responded by building a 26-19 lead with 2:22 on the clock after a three by freshman point guard Bryce Dolan.  Harris and sophomore guard Quardell Young (Kenosha/Bradford) hit back-to-back threes for the Warhawks to pull within one again, 26-25, with 0:53 on the clock.  Two free throws gave IWU a 28-25 lead at intermission.

Harris led both teams with 11 points in the half, hitting 3-5 from beyond the arc.  Illinois Wesleyan hit 52% from the floor in the half, Whitewater 38%, and pounded the boards to a 20-9 advantage, but the Warhawks stayed close by forcing 17 turnovers (while committing seven). 

UW-W changed the complexion of the game in a hurry, outscoring IWU 14-2 to open the second half and giving Whitewater its first lead, 39-30, of the game.  Junior center Luke Knoble (Boscobel/Boscobel) and Harris accounted for all of Whitewater's points in the run.

The Titans answered with a run of their own, 11-2, to knot the score at 41-41. 

Holding a slim 49-48 lead with 7:32 left, Whitewater used a 7-0 run to own some distance at 56-48 with 6:43 on the clock.  The Warhawks eventually increased the lead to eleven, 68-57, with just 1:10 left in the game, which proved to be too much to overcome even though the Titans fought back within 69-65, after scoring five points in four seconds.  Davis hit a three pointer for the Titans and on the inbounds Whitewater was called for a five second violation, and senior center Kevin Reed took the IWU inbounds pass for a layin.  This time on the inbounds pass Whitewater found Luke Knoble (Boscobel/Boscobel) on the post route, hit him with a pass and his layup ended the scoring. 

IWU committed 25 turnovers, second only to the 29 Aurora had earlier this season, and more than any opponent UW-W faced all last year.  Ironically, Illinois Wesleyan also had that dubious honor last year as well, turning it over 24 times in a loss to Whitewater November 30, 2011.  The turnovers offset the Titans edge on the boards, which ended up 34-21. 

Harris' 32 points is the most by a Warhawk this season, topping the 24 Quardell Young (Kenosha/Bradford) scored against Aurora, and the most since Chris Davis (Madison/East) scored 33 in Whitewater's NCAA III tournament win over Virginia Wesleyan March 10, 2012.  Harris hit 6-8 three point shots.  Knoble pitched in with 18 points, going 8-9 from the field. 

Illinois Wesleyan, a Final Four team like UW-W last season, is 4-1.

UW-Whitewater will open play in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Saturday, traveling to Menomonie to face UW-Stout for a 4:00 tipoff.  UW-W's next home contest will be Saturday, December 8 at 3:00 with the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds visiting Kachel Gym in Williams Center.