Senior center Luke Knoble won't have to look under the tree for his gift, it was wrapped up and waiting for him at the Edgedome in Madison Saturday night.  Knoble, who was averaging 10.9 points per game, scored the first seven points of the game, scored six in a row later in the first half, and had 15 by halftime as sixth ranked UW-Whitewater rolled over Edgewood College 75-48.  UW-W improves to 8-1, Edgewood is 2-9.

After Knoble's quick start, Whitewater's lead reached double figures, 15-4, on Cody Odegaard's three pointer at 15:24.  It increased to 14 points on several occasions, the latest on a three by Darnell Harris from a right angle.  Knoble, again, hit two free throws at 6:08 to increase the lead to 34-18.  He followed with a pair of layups, off inside feeds from the wing, and the margin increased to 36-18 with 2:14 on the clock.  Quardell Young's jumper in the lane made the lead 17, 38-21 at 1:27, and Reggie Hearn's spinning baseline move ended the scoring for the half with Whitewater in front 40-21.

Whitewater and Edgewood took almost the same number of shots from the floor, but Whitewater hit 15-24 (62%) and Edgewood 9-25 (36%).  Both teams shot eight three's, where UW-W also had the advantage, hitting five to three for EC.  The only place that UW-W struggled was at the line, hitting just 5-10 -- but Edgewood did not even attempt a charity toss in the first twenty minutes.

If there was any magic or stirring speech in Edgewood's lockerroom at halftime the Grinch stole it.  Whitewater scored the first ten points of the second half and it became a question of how many (players would get into the game, not points) and how much (minutes, not margin). 

UW-W coach Pat Miller used fifteen players in the game, and eleven got in the scoring column.  Guard Rory Cotter scored his first points of the year with 5:07 left in the game to make the score 67-36.  Steve Egan, who had played a total of six minutes before tonight, played nine minutes and led both teams with seven rebounds.  Knoble scored his game high 17 points in 20 minutes.  Eric Byson added 11 points in 22 minutes.  Junior guard Brett Meinecke was the only double figure scorer for Edgewood, notching 16.  Whitewater's Quardell Young led both teams with five assists.

The team statistics didn't change much from the first half.  Whitewater shot 51% from the field, EC 40%.  UW-W hit 6-15 from beyond the arc, Edgewood 5-17.  UW-W kept its margin at the line, making 9-16 while the Eagles were 3-4.

UW-W will travel to DePere for a tournament hosted by Saint Norbert College December 29-30.  The Warhawks will face Northwestern College (MN), a team they beat 83-68 in the first round of the NCAA III Tournament last year, at 5:00.  The next night UW-W will face either Marian College or host Saint Norbert, game time 5:00 or 7:00.  The next Whitewater home game is January 2 at 7:00 with Cardinal Stritch College visiting Kachel Gym in Williams Center.