Issued: February 17, 2003

MEN'S BASKETBALL AIMS FOR .500 IN MATCH UP WITH PLATTEVILLE

EAU CLAIRE - Fresh off a 77-64 win over 14th ranked Whitewater, the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team will look to even their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record at 8-8 Wednesday night when they play host to UW-Platteville at 7:00 at W.L. Zorn Arena.

The Blugolds carry a 15-9 overall record into Wednesday night's match up while Platteville currently owns an 11-12 overall record and a 7-7 record in the WIAC with two games left to play.

Eau Claire comes in with wins in three of its last four games. The Blugolds won back-to-back contests against La Crosse and River Falls before dropping a road game to Oshkosh. On Saturday, the Blugolds used hot free-throw shooting to upend 14th ranked Whitewater to pull within one game of .500 in conference play. Dan Archambault (So-Oshkosh/West) stepped up big for the Blugolds as he scored a career-high 31 points as Eau Claire's scoring leader Jason Larson (Sr-Sugarland, TX/Stephen F. Austin) saw limited action due to a temporary first half injury and second half foul trouble. Larson still finished the game with 14 points for the Blugolds. Eau Claire converted on 27-of-32 free throws in the victory.

The Pioneers also come in on somewhat of a winning streak with victories in their last two games. Platteville topped Edgewood last Monday and then won a hard-fought battle against UW-Stout on Saturday by a score of 68-66.

The Pioneers took the first meeting of the two teams this season on January 22nd with a 67-62 victory. The Blugolds scored just 18 points in the first half and nearly ended up with a victory as they outscored the Pioneers 44-37 in the second half. Larson led the Blugolds in scoring with 17 points, 14 coming in the second half, while also grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists in the loss. Andy Witte (Sr-Madison/Monona Grove) added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Blugolds. Tyler Selk led Platteville to the victory as he ended up with team-bests in points and rebounds with 18 and seven respectively.

Another thing to watch for in Wednesday's contest is that Jason Larson needs just one point to surpass Stan Johnson for 10th on the Blugolds' all-time scoring list. Johnson scored 1,369 points in his Blugold career in the mid 1960's.

Normal admission prices will be charged for the conference match up. Tip-off is at 7:00 Wednesday night at Zorn Arena.