Issued: February 22, 2004

MEN'S BASKETBALL AT RIVER FALLS WIAC FIRST ROUND PREVIEW

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Men's Basketball Tournament
Tuesday, February 24; Thursday, February 26; Saturday, February 28

First Round Games - Tuesday, February 24

#8 Eau Claire (11-14, 5-11) at #1 River Falls (19-6, 12-4)

#5 Stout (14-10, 8-8) at #4 Platteville (14-11, 8-8)

#6 Oshkosh (13-12, 7-9) at #3 Whitewater (20-5, 11-5)

#7 Superior (12-13, 6-10) at #2 Stevens Point (20-5, 11-5)

Semifinals - Thursday, February 26

Winner of River Falls-Eau Claire game vs. winner of Platteville-Stout game, 7 p.m. at highest seed.

Winner of Stevens Point-Superior game vs. winner of Whitewater-Oshkosh game, 7 p.m. at highest seed.

Championship - Saturday, February 28

Semifinal winners, 3 or 7 p.m.

Eau Claire vs. River Falls
Tuesday, February 24 - 7 pm
Karges Center, River Falls
Tickets

    Adults - $6

    Seniors - $3

    Youths - $3

    Students - $3

This is the sixth year of the WIAC men's basketball tournament and the No. 8 seed has made it out of the first round just once in five years. UW-Stout accomplished the task in the 2001 tournament when they topped Whitewater 90-49. The No. 1 seed has claimed the championship three of the five years of the tournament. The exceptions were in 2001 when Eau Claire won the tournament title as the No. 4 seed and last season when Oshkosh took the title, also 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

2002: #4 Oshkosh beat #2 Whitewater, 68-63

Eau Claire is the No. 8 seed for the first time in tournament history. The Blugolds previously were

1999: #3

2000: #2

2001: #4

2002: DNQ

2003: #6

2004: #8

The Falcons took both games against the Blugolds this season, winning 73-56 in Eau Claire and 68-60 in River Falls. In the January 7 match-up at Eau Claire, the Blugolds trailed by just one point at halftime but were outscored 41-25 in the second half. The Falcons shot 54.9 percent from the floor for the game and 60.0 percent in the second half alone. Casey Drake led Eau Claire with 21 points and six rebounds while WIAC scoring leader Rich Melzer finished with 33 points and five rebounds.

Eau Claire looked to avenge the loss on February 7 when they traveled to River Falls. The Blugolds held a seven-point lead with 12:35 remaining in the contest but the Falcons went on a 24-7 run to take a 10-point lead with 3:44 left in the game. Casey Drake and Kale Proksch shared the scoring lead for the Blugolds with 15 points apiece. The total was a career-best for Proksch while he also matched his career-high in rebounds with nine. Melzer posted a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite dropping both games this season, the Blugolds still own a 99-74 all-time record against the Falcons.

Eau Claire and River Falls have faced each other just one time in WIAC tournament history. The game was last season when the Blugolds traveled to River Falls as the No. 6 seed and upset the No. 3 Falcons 68-65. Dan Archambault had a big game for Eau Claire, totaling a team-high 20 points while also grabbing five rebounds. The Blugolds played well despite a large Karges Center crowd and shot nearly 46 percent from the floor in the second half while out-rebounding the Falcons 38-34 for the game.

Ninth year Eau Claire coach Terry Gibbons owns a 150-88 record (.630 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. Gibbons has led the Blugolds to a 6-3 all-time record since the beginning of the WIAC tournament in 1999.

Eau Claire will have had a week off since last Tuesday's 65-61 road victory against UW-Platteville, a victory that ended a five-game Blugold losing streak. Will Jefferson had a career-best 20 points in the game and did not miss a single shot, hitting eight-of-eight from the floor, one-of-one from downtown, and three-of-three from the free-throw line. The Blugolds hope to take the momentum gained from the road win and use it to topple the No. 1 seed.

The Falcons bring momentum of their own into Tuesday's contest after winning Saturday night to claim the WIAC regular season title outright. The win, combined with both Stevens Point and Whitewater losses, gave River Falls the best record in the WIAC at 12-4. The Falcons finished the season on an eight-game win streak, with seven of the games WIAC contests. Their last four wins all came by three points or less, with two of the four coming in overtime.

The Blugolds head to River Falls with a 2-8 overall record on the road and a 2-6 record on the road in WIAC play.

Eau Claire has been involved in three overtime games this season, all occuring in conference play and at home. The Blugolds defeated Stout and Whitewater in overtime but fell to La Crosse. The 2-1 record in OT this season is a great improvement from last season's mark of 0-3. Eau Claire has lost three contests in the final seconds of play this season: the La Crosse overtime game, a 59-57 road loss to Stout, and a 56-55 home loss to Platteville.

Nine Blugolds have scored in double figures this year: Casey Drake (24 times), Dan Archambault (16), Buck Smith (5), Will Jefferson (3), Tyler Birkel (3), Colin Walsh (3), Kale Proksch (2), Mat Peterson (1), Aaron Radl (1).

Will Jefferson is the only Blugold to reach double-digits in rebounding. He grabbed 10 rebounds in a non-conference match-up with Wisconsin Lutheran on November 25.

Seven different players have led or co-led the Blugolds in scoring in a single game. Only two players led the Blugolds in scoring last season. This year Casey Drake (15 times), Dan Archambault (5), Buck Smith (2), Will Jefferson (1), Kale Proksch (1), Colin Walsh (1), and Aaron Radl (1) all accomplished the task.

Seven players have also been the rebounding leader: Casey Drake (9 times), Buck Smith (6), Tyler Birkel (5), Kale Proksch (4), Will Jefferson (4), Marshall Watry (1), Mat Peterson (1), Aaron Radl (1).

Drake leads the team in both points per game (17.2) and rebounds per game (4.6). He earned WIAC Athlete-of-the-Week honors for his efforts during the week of January 5-11.

Eau Claire's top scoring effort this year was 35 points by Drake on February 14 in an 80-68 home loss to Stevens Point. Archambault scored 25 on November 25 while Drake scored 23 on four different occasions. Jefferson was the only other Blugold to score 20 or more points in a single game, scoring 20 in the Blugolds' regular season finale. Eau Claire's top rebounding performance came November 25 with Jefferson's 10 rebound performance.

River Falls' Melzer led the WIAC in scoring with 26.6 points per game. He led the Falcons in scoring in all but one game this season. He has also totaled 8.7 rebounds per game and has led the Falcons in that category in all but five games this season. He is a three-time WIAC Athlete-of-the-Week.

WIAC Tournament Site

Eau Claire-River Falls Game One Box Score

Eau Claire-River Falls Game Two Box Score