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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team looks to embark on a long postseason run starting Wednesday at UW-River Falls in the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (Presented by Culver's) at 7 p.m.
 
The Warhawks earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament after placing fifth in the conference standings during the regular season with a 16-9 record, including a 6-8 mark in WIAC play.
 
The Falcons, who won last year's WIAC tournament title, are the fourth seed after finishing 16-8 (7-7 WIAC).
 
The winner of Wednesday night's game advances to a semifinal scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. The lower seed of the two first round winners will visit regular season champion UW-Platteville, with the other team headed to UW-Stevens Point.
 
UW-Whitewater is making its 20th consecutive appearance in the WIAC Championship, having qualified for the tournament in each year since the tournament's inception in 1999. The team has claimed four titles over that span, most recently in 2015.
 
The Warhawks enter the postseason ranked fourth in the league in scoring offense with 72.2 points per game while allowing 64.9 points per affair, good for third in the WIAC. UW-Whitewater's offense has relied heavily on the 3-point shot as the team is tied with UW-Stevens Point for the conference lead in 3-point field goals made (220 / 8.80 per game).
 
The Warhawks started the 2017-18 season with six straight wins, including home victories over then-No. 15 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) and eventual Midwest Conference champion Monmouth (Ill.).
 
After a loss against Adrian (Mich.), UW-Whitewater ripped off five straight victories, including true road wins over Trine (Ind.), Beloit, St Norbert and then-No. 7 UW-Oshkosh.
 
The Warhawks suffered a one-point loss against the Falcons in a showdown of top-five ranked teams on Jan. 6 before winning their next two to improve to 3-1 in league play. From there, the team split its next six games, sitting at 16-5 (6-4) after a 74-55 triumph at UW-Stout on Feb. 3.
 
A 69-67 setback at home against UW-Oshkosh on Feb. 7 started a four-game losing streak, which carries into Wednesday's WIAC Championship opener.
 
Junior guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) enters the week as UW-Whitewater's leading scorer, averaging 15.2 points per game, good for fifth in the conference. He also leads the team and ranks third in the league in steals (37) and is among the top 10 in the WIAC in field goal percentage (49.0) and assists (63).
 
Junior guards Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) and David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) also average double figures in scoring at 11.8 and 11.6 points per contest, respectively. Pfeifer is tied for fourth in the conference in 3-pointers made (54) and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (41.9), while Sachs ranks second in the league with 89 assists and is fourth in free-throw percentage (82.4).
 
Junior forward Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) leads the team and ranks sixth in the WIAC with 6.0 rebounds per affair and is averaging 10.0 points per game. Junior guard Dalton Menke (Rockford, Ill./Winnebago), averaging 8.8 points per game, is the conference's No. 2 three-point shooter in terms of percentage (49.0).
 
Junior Maurquis Turner (Milwaukee, Wis./King) and sophomore Riley Jensen (Milton, Wis./Janesville Craig) bolster the frontcourt for the Warhawks. Turner averages 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest, and Jensen averaged 10.0 points per game in two contests last week and is shooting 57.6 percent (38-of-66) from the field for the season.
 
Senior guard Jerry Ngobi (Janesville, Wis./Janesville Craig) rounds out the backcourt rotation. He has appeared in 24 games this season and averages 3.0 points per game.
 
UW-Whitewater owns a 75-45 advantage in the all-time series against UW-River Falls but has dropped each of the last seven meetings between the two teams. The Warhawks knocked down 11 three-pointers but trailed for the entire second half in a 76-66 setback on Feb. 10 in River Falls. Rongstad led the team with 16 points and seven rebounds in the contest.
 
The WIAC Championship final is scheduled for Sunday at the highest remaining seed at 2 p.m. The winner of that contest earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which begins next week.