Issued: February 26, 2003

MEN'S BASKETBALL AT WHITEWATER WIAC SEMIFINAL PREVIEW

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Men's Basketball Tournament
Tuesday, February 25; Thursday, February 27; Saturday, March 1

First Round Results - Tuesday, February 25

#1 Stevens Point 66, #8 La Crosse 41

#2 Whitewater 64, #7 Platteville 61

#6 Eau Claire 68, #3 River Falls 65

#4 Oshkosh 103, #5 Stout 70

Semifinals - Thursday, February 27

#4 UW-Oshkosh (20-6, 10-6 WIAC) at #1 UW-Stevens Point (24-2, 14-2 WIAC)

#6 UW-Eau Claire (17-9, 8-8 WIAC) at #2 UW-Whitewater (20-6, 11-5 WIAC)

Championship - Saturday, March 1

Eau Claire-Whitewater winner vs. the Stevens Point-Oshkosh winner at the highest seed

Eau Claire vs. Whitewater
Thursday, February 27 - 7 pm
Kachel Gymnasium, Whitewater
Tickets

    Reserved - $7

    Adults - $6

    Seniors - $3

    Youths - $3

This is the fifth year of the WIAC men's basketball tournament and the No. 6 seed has gone to the finals of the tournament two of the previous four years. The No. 1 seed has claimed the championship three of the four years of the tournament. The exception was in 2001 when Eau Claire won the tournament title as the No. 4 seed.

1999: #1 Platteville beat #6 Stout, 90-88 (OT)

2000: #1 Stevens Point beat #2 Eau Claire, 59-56 (OT)

2001: #4 Eau Claire beat #6 Oshkosh, 76-63

2002: #1 Oshkosh beat #3 Whitewater, 70-69

Eau Claire is the No. 6 seed for the first time in tournament history. The Blugolds previously were

1999: #3

2000: #2

2001: #4

2002: DNQ

2003: #6

The Blugolds and Warhawks split the season series this year with each team winning their home game. Whitewater won a January 11th match up over Eau Claire 84-75 in overtime. The Warhawks benefited from second most free throw attempts in conference history as they were awarded 67 attempts, converting on 48 of them.

Eau Claire avenged the loss to Whitewater by topping the Warhawks 77-64 on February 15th in the Blugolds second to last game of the regular season. Whitewater was ranked 14th in the country according to d3hoops.com at the time of the defeat.

With the split this season, the Blugolds own a 55-37 all-time record against the Warhawks.

Eau Claire and Whitewater have never matched up in WIAC tournament history.

Eighth year Eau Claire coach Terry Gibbons owns a 139-73 record (.656 winning percentage) since taking over in 1995. During Gibbons tenure the Blugolds won the 2001 WIAC tournament and qualified for the NCAA post-season tournament two times, advancing to the second round in 2001 and reaching the national title game in 2000 in which Gibbons earned NCAA West Region Coach of the Year honors.

Eau Claire is on a hot streak of late as it has posted wins in five of its last six games. In those final six games the Blugolds have shot an incredible 44 percent from behind the three-point arc. Eau Claire has also out-rebounded its opponents by an average of over six rebounds per game in the last six contests.

The Blugolds head to Whitewater with a 6-6 overall record on the road and a 3-5 record on the road in WIAC play.

Three-point shooting appears to be one of the keys in Thursday night's match up. The Blugolds have drained 44 percent of their three-point shots in their 17 victories on the season while hitting 31.5 percent in their nine losses. Eau Claire is also averaging seven plus rebounds more per game in their wins than in their losses.

The Blugolds' average winning margin is 18.6 points with their biggest win coming by 28 points over St. Mary's with a 78-50 road win against the Cardinals. Eau Claire has been involved in three overtime games this season, all occuring in conference play. The Blugolds dropped all three overtime games; two home games to UW-Stout and UW-Oshkosh and the away game to the Warhawks.

Seven Blugolds have scored in double figures this year: Jason Larson (25), Dan Archambault (20), Andy Witte (15), Nate Beck (8), Ryan Weitor (5), Casey Drake (4), Will Jefferson (7).

Only two have reached double digits in rebounding: Andy Witte (7), Jason Larson (5). Larson and Witte are the only two Blugolds to total double-doubles on the season, Larson accomplishing the feat five times and Witte three times.

Only Larson and Archambault have led the Blugolds in scoring. Larson has scored a game-high in points 19 times while Archambault has done it seven times. Larson leads the team with 21.5 points per game.

Seven players have been the rebounding leader: Andy Witte (14 times), Jason Larson (10), Nate Beck (2), Ryan Weitor (1), Kale Proksch (1), Will Jefferson (1), and Tyler Birkel (1). Witte leads the team averaging eight rebounds per contest.

Eau Claire's top scoring effort this year was 33 points by Larson on February 8th against River Falls. Larson has also scored 31 points on three different occasions while Dan Archambault has scored 31 once this season. Eau Claire's top rebounding performance came on February 15th when Witte grabbed 16 boards against Whitewater. Witte also totaled 15 rebounds one other time this season while Larson has grabbed 14 in one game this year.