The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in program history and first since 2014. The Warhawks punched their ticket with a 78-75 win over Case Western Reserve University on their home court Saturday evening.
UW-Whitewater will face Johns Hopkins in the round of 16 next week. The location and time of the next slate of games is likely to be announced Sunday or Monday.
The Sweet 16 has historically been a good omen for the Warhawks. In the six previous appearances (2014, 2012, 1996, 1989, 1984, 1983), UWW advanced to the Final Four five times and went on to win the national title on four occasions.
The 2023 squad may be the grittiest of the UWW teams that have made long runs in the postseason. Their fight and tenacity was showcased once again Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio where they took down the Spartans on their home court.
The first half was a back-and forth affair with the teams trading small runs with neither securing an advantage of more than five until a late run by the Warhawks. With UWW leading by three around the four minute mark,
Miles Barnstable (Sheboygan, Wis./Howards Grove) hit a pair of free throws and knocked down a triple in less than 35 seconds to push the lead to eight.
Carter Capstran (Franklin, Wis./Franklin) pushed the gap to double digits with a layup at the three minute mark and a
Trevon Chislom (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) layin made it a 9-1 Warhawk run to give UW-Whitewater a 37-26 advantage with 2:32 on the clock.
CWRU responded with an 8-1 spurt to close out the half and send the teams into the locker room with the scoreboard reading 38-34 in favor of UWW.
Jameer Barker (Racine, Wis./St. Catherine's) set the tone on the other side of the intermission draining a three less than 15 seconds into the half. Less than two minutes later, Barker hit from long range once again but the Spartans continued to whittle away eventually pulling to within two, 47-45, at the 15:29 mark.
The host institution reclaimed the lead with just under 12 minutes to go on a layup, 54-52. This time the Warhawks had the response rattling off 12 straight capped by a pair of three-pointers from Barnstable that pushed the gap back into double digits, 64-54, with 8:15 on the clock.
Case Western once again battled back, pulling to within one, 64-63 with 5:47 to go but a foul on a three quickly swayed the momentum back into Whitewater's favor. Chislom knocked down all three from the charity stripe with 5:22 left. All but two of the Warhawk points the rest of the way came from the free throw line as UWW was 9-13 from the charity stripe down the stretch.
Barnstable registered his second consecutive game with more than 20 points posting 27 Saturday to lead all scorers. He hist 6-12 from beyond the arc and 5-6 from the free throw line in the game. Chislom dropped in 21 bolstered by 9 free throws, adding a team high 9 rebounds and three assists. Barker was 6-10 from the floor for 16 points, sharing assist honors with Chislom with three.
With the Warhawk women also advancing to the Round of 16, UW-Whitewater is one of two schools represented by both their men's and women's basketball teams in the Sweet 16 -- Christopher Newport is the lone other. This is the second time in UWW history both Warhawk squads have advanced to the quarterfinals - the other was in 2014 when the Warhawk men captured the national title and the women finished third in the country.
