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WIAC Championship Web Page
 
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team visits UW-Platteville this Tuesday, Feb. 19, for the first round of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (Presented by Culver's) at Williams Fieldhouse/Bo Ryan Court in Platteville.
 
Tickets for Tuesday's contest can be purchased online or starting at 6 p.m. at the ticket window Tuesday. Cost of admission is $7 for adults and $4 for seniors and youth ages 5-7.
 
The Warhawks (17-8 overall) drew the No. 6 seed in the tournament after finishing the regular season with a 6-8 mark against WIAC foes. The team punched its ticket to the postseason with a 77-74 triumph over UW-River Falls on Saturday at Kachel Gymnasium.
 
Senior forward Melvin Brown Jr. (Milwaukee, Wis./Vincent) tallied 19 points, including 18 in the first half, to help UW-Whitewater build a 46-32 halftime lead, and senior guard Andre Brown (Kenosha, Wis./Indian Trail) collected 19 points and junior forward Riley Jensen (Milton, Wis./Janesville Craig) added 16 points to help the team hold the advantage in the second half.
 
UW-Platteville (15-10) secured the No. 3 seed in the tournament after tying for third in the league standings and earning the tiebreaker over UW-Stevens Point thanks to a season sweep of the Pointers, which was capped Saturday with a 55-50 victory. Carter Voelker totaled 13 points to pace the Pioneers, who held UW-Stevens Point to 39.2 percent shooting and hit 17-of-20 from the free-throw line.
 
After finishing the non-conference slate with an 11-0 mark, including victories over nationally-ranked St. John's (Minn.) and Loras (Iowa), the Warhawks lost four of their first five conference games before topping UW-River Falls and UW-Platteville on the road.
 
UW-Whitewater endured four more setbacks consecutively before closing the regular season with three straight wins.
 
The Warhawks enter the postseason averaging 78.4 points per game, good for the No. 2 scoring offense in the WIAC, and are tied for the league lead in shooting percentage (47.5). The team is also second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (37.4).
 
Brown Jr. leads the team and ranks eighth in the conference with 14.3 points per affair. He also leads the team and ranks among league leaders in rebounding (5.6 per game), field goal percentage (52.4) and blocked shots (17).
 
Brown, who eclipsed the 1,000-career point plateau last month, is second on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game and is shooting 47.8 percent from the floor and 74.2 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Senior guard David Sachs (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) also averages double figures in scoring with 10.2 points per contest to go along with a league-leading 105 assists (4.4 per game) and a free-throw percentage of 87.2, good for third in the WIAC.
 
Senior forward Derek Rongstad (Middleton, Wis./Middleton), who averages 9.3 points per game, enters the postseason shooting 46.7 percent from the floor with a team-high 31 steals (1.48 per game), good for eighth in the WIAC. Senior guard Dalton Menke (Rockford, Ill./Winnebago) averages 7.9 points per game and is shooting a conference-high 46.1 percent from 3-point range.
 
Senior guard Mitchell Pfeifer (Wales, Wis./Kettle Moraine) is averaging 7.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, while Jensen averages 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Junior guard Tywon Bressler (Milwaukee, Wis./Dominican) has appeared in all 25 games and is averaging 3.9 points per contest.
 
UW-Whitewater finished 2-0 against UW-Platteville this season, including an 88-80 triumph in Platteville on Jan. 23 and a 58-49 victory in Whitewater last Wednesday.
 
In the January game, Brown Jr. broke the program's single-game scoring record with 47 points on 18-of-26 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds as the Warhawks shot 52.6 percent from the floor and limited the Pioneers to 41.2 percent shooting.
 
Last week, UW-Whitewater held UW-Platteville to 28.3 percent from the field and made 19 free throws, including 15 in the second half, to secure the win. Brown Jr. totaled a team-high 17 points, and Brown contributed 12 points.
 
The Warhawks are 22-16 all time in the WIAC Championship, including a 4-1 mark against the Pioneers and an 8-6 record in first-round games. UW-Whitewater has played in the conference tournament each year since its debut, a span of 21 straight appearances.
 
The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to Thursday's semifinals, which tip off at 7 p.m. The Warhawks would visit top-seeded UW-Oshkosh, while UW-Platteville would make a trip to No. 2 seed UW-La Crosse.