The No. 2 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's basketball team won its fifth Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in the last 10 years in record-setting fashion Saturday, wrapping up the title with a 86-77 victory at UW-Stout in the regular season finale for both teams.
With the win, the Warhawks (22-3 overall, 15-1 WIAC) clinched the program's 15th conference regular season championship and will begin their run to a fourth WIAC Tournament title Thursday at 7 p.m. in a semifinal against the lowest remaining seed, which will be determined following Tuesday's first round contests.
UW-Whitewater will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament by virtue of a coin flip tiebreaker conducted Saturday night by WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner. The Warhawks finished tied for first place with UW-Stevens Point, which will host Thursday's other semifinal against the highest remaining seed.
UW-Whitewater's 15 conference wins are the most in school history for one season. The previous high of 14 wins was last accomplished during the 1993-94 season.
Senior wing KJ Evans tallied 21 points to go along with six rebounds to lead UW-Whitewater, which shot 56.7 percent from the floor and 50 percent (8-of-16) from 3-point range.
Senior guard Rahjan Muhammad parlayed a big first half into a season-best 18 points. Senior guard Cody Odegaard posted 17 points, while senior forward Steve Egan registered 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Senior guard Quardell Young recorded eight points and a career-high 13 assists.
In the first half, UW-Stout (3-22, 0-16) jumped out to a 7-2 lead just under a minute and a half into play, but UW-Whitewater quickly countered with an 11-0 run, taking a 13-7 advantage following a layup by senior forward Steve Egan with 14:58 on the clock.
After the Blue Devils took a 16-13 lead with a 9-0 run, the two teams exchanged baskets and mini-runs over the next 10 minutes.
The Warhawks closed the half on an 8-0 run, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Muhammad, to take a 43-36 advantage into the half.
Muhammad finished the period with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range.
UW-Whitewater extended its lead to 13 just under two minutes into the second half as Egan converted a 3-point play to make it 49-36 with 18:10 on the clock.
UW-Stout got as close as five points, but the Warhawks converted 10-of-13 free throws in the period to help ice away the game.