KSC Puts Five in Double-Figures, Two on SCB Champions Classic All-Tournament Team

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Junior guard Octavio Brito (Lincoln, R.I.) rebounded from an off game to post 34 points, six rebounds, and four assists to pace five players in double-figures as the No. 4 nationally ranked Keene State College men's basketball team imposed their will on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in a 93-75 victory Saturday afternoon at Wachs Arena on the campus of Northern State University, the host of the 2023 Small College Basketball Champions Classic.

Records

• No. 4 Keene State:  2-1
• Wisconsin-Platteville:  3-1

How It Happened
One day after an uncharacteristic offensive performance in loss that saw the Owls chasing most of the day and turn the ball over 18 times, KSC scored five in a row after allowing the opening three points of the game and never trailed again, shooting 48 percent overall, 42 percent from the three-point line, and 82 percent from the foul line in a comfortable victory.  The Pioneers entered 3-0 and were coming off a game in which they turned the ball over only five times in 40 minutes in an 80-78 victory over Saint John's University (Minn.).  However, today, they were forced into five miscues in less than seven minutes and finished with 16, getting outscored 14-2 in both points off turnovers and fastbreaks.  KSC had their offense going, getting multiple threes from three different players and four assists from two in addition to the five in double-figures (and six with at least eight points).  They also committed only nine turnovers, including four in an opening half that saw them shoot 50 percent overall and from three while building a 14-point (46-32) lead heading into the locker room.  Brito made four of eight shots (3-6 3-PT) to score a team-high 13 points in the half while Spencer Aronson broke out of a slump and made four of five triples off the bench.

Keene State built on their lead early in the second half, outscoring Platteville 8-4 over the opening four minutes to take a game-high 54-36 advantage at the 16:06 mark.  It was still 56-42 following Alonzo Linton's layup a little over two minutes later before the Pioneers scored seven in a row to get back within single digits.  Brito, who torched the nets for 21 points in the final 20 minutes (5-9 FG, 10-10 FT), quickly answered with a triple for a 59-49 lead with 12:01 to go, but UWP got a putback layup by Max Love and inside bucket from Logan Pearson on consecutive possessions to make it a six-point game (59-53) suddenly with still 11:04 remaining.  It did not last long.  Four free throws later in the next minute put the Owls back up 10, and a dunk from Brito a little over two minutes later made it 68-56.  Platteville stayed within range to some degree in the second half thanks to 11 offensive rebounds in that period alone, but otherwise had no way of significantly containing KSC's offense.  Mason Jean Baptiste buried a key triple with 6:12 left to push the lead to 73-60, and then a minute later found Tahmeen Dupree for a layup and a 13-point lead again.  Keene State's lead never dipped below 10 again, and thanks to proficient free throw shooting (making their final 12 attempts), gave Wisconsin-Platteville no late hope.  Four from the charity stripe in about a minute for Brito had KSC up 81-68 with 2:52 left, and another two free throws from Hunter made it 85-71 with 1:26 left.  A flush from Linton on KSC's next offensive possession provided an exclamation point, and the Owls made four free throws before a steal and Brito layup in the final minute to match their game-high 18-point edge.

The game featured only two ties and one lead change, as Keene State took the lead for good (8-5) on Brito's triple off a feed from Nate Siow that resulted from a Jean Baptiste steal four minutes in.  A short 6-0 burst a short time later helped push what had been a two-point lead to 16-8, and the Owls were on their way, going up 25-14 on a trey from Aronson at the 7:37 mark of the opening half.  Platteville struggled to get any stops despite scoring themselves, as a dunk from Hunter and another Aronson long-range make with four minutes left had KSC in front 35-23.  Brito continued the Owls' three-point barrage with 3:19 to go to keep the lead at 13, and Aronson capped a sizzling half with two treys in the final 1:20 including one with nine seconds left to provide KSC their commanding 46-32 halftime edge.

"That win was a testament of our players and our program as a whole," said Keene State acting head coach David Hastings.  "We did what we were supposed to do from the tip and kept a collective sense of urgency throughout the whole 40 minutes."

Brito's 34 points came on 9-of-17 shooting, including making all 12 attempts at the foul line.  He added six rebounds and four assists.  Hunter had his third double-double in as many games this season, piling up 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Aronson was 4-for-7 from deep to score his 12 points.  Jean Baptiste and Dupree rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 apiece.

Pearson scored 31 points to lead Wisconsin-Platteville, shooting 12-of-21 overall (1-2 3-PT) and 6-of-7 at the free throw line.  He added three rebounds.  Joey Fuhremann added 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting and 13 rebounds off the bench, but the Pioneers – who have made 14 NCAA tournament appearances including four since 2018, reaching the Sweet 16 once and second round twice – were outscored 30-12 from behind the three-point line in their first loss.

Inside the Paint

• Four of the Owls' five starters all had at least a plus-14 rating.
• KSC is 25-for-59 from three in their two wins this season.
• It was the first ever meeting between the two programs.
• Wisconsin-Platteville was receiving votes in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25 poll.
• Both Brito and Hunter were named to the Small College Basketball Champions Classic all-tournament team.  The tournament featured four Division III and four Division II teams.  All four Division III teams split their games, as Saint John's (Minn.) stuffed Stockton University 77-63 in the day's first game.

Up Next

• Keene State returns to New England and will venture to Connecticut College (3-0) on Tuesday, November 21 for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off in their final game before Thanksgiving.  The only other meeting between the programs came in 2010, a 105-85 KSC win at Spaulding Gymnasium.
• Wisconsin-Platteville hosts Central College (Iowa) (4-0) on Saturday, November 25 at 6:00 p.m. ET.