Titans Open NCAA Postseason At Home Against Beavers
Nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh will host Blackburn College (Ill.) during a first round matchup in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship on Friday (March 4). Tipoff for the second-ever meeting between the teams is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. in Kolf Sports Center.
UW-Oshkosh (22-3), ranked third in the country by D3hoops.com, clinched both the regular season and postseason titles in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to earn an automatic berth into the Division III Championship. The Titans, who held on for a 75-73 home victory over sixth-ranked UW-Platteville in the league tournament title game, won both WIAC championships during the same season for the second time and first since 2002.
The Titans are embarking on their sixth consecutive and 11th overall NCAA postseason appearance. UW-Oshkosh, which has won 20 of its last 21 home games, owns a 19-10 record in the Division III Championship.
Blackburn College (11-17) is making its third trip to the national tournament and first since 2005. The Beavers secured an automatic bid into the 64-team Division III Championship field after breezing through the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament as the third seed, winning their three games by an average of more than 22 points, including a 76-56 rout over Webster University (Mo.) during the final.
The Beavers, seeking their first win in the NCAA tournament, rallied to reach the Division III Championship despite opening the season with a 1-10 record in nonconference play and suffering four straight league losses leading up to the SLIAC Tournament.
UW-Oshkosh won its only prior meeting with Blackburn College by a 76-48 score Nov. 21, 2014, in Kolf Sports Center.
The Oshkosh Regional begins with Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) taking on University of Dubuque (Iowa) at 4:45 p.m. Friday for a battle of programs nicknamed the Spartans in Kolf Sports Center.
Friday's winners will meet at 7:15 p.m. Saturday (March 5) in Kolf Sports Center for the right to play in the third round on March 11.
Case Western Reserve University (18-6) received one of 20 at-large berths into the Division III Championship field after finishing as the runner-up in the University Athletic Association standings. The Spartans are making their NCAA postseason debut.
University of Dubuque (21-6), the automatic qualifier out of the American Rivers Conference, won the league regular season title before cruising to a 71-52 victory over second-seeded Buena Vista University (Iowa) in the ARC Tournament final. The Spartans, vying for their first NCAA tournament win since the 1990 first round, have a 4-6 record in six previous Division III Championship appearances.
UW-Oshkosh has never faced Case Western Reserve University and has played University of Dubuque just once in program history. University of Dubuque slipped past the Titans, 79-77, during their only previous matchup in the 1980-81 campaign.
Fourth-year head coach Matt Lewis, the 2022 WIAC Coach of the Year, and the Titans enter the Oshkosh Regional on a seven-game winning streak. UW-Oshkosh, averaging 77.7 points per game and allowing 64.2 per contest, ranks third in the country by limiting opponents to 26.8% from 3-point range and fifth with 9.3 turnovers per game.
All-WIAC First Team performers Levi Borchert, Eddie Muench and Hunter Plamann lead a UW-Oshkosh team that paced the league in average rebounding margin at +7.0 per contest.
Borchert, the 2022 WIAC Player of the Year and a 2021 D3hoops.com Third Team All-American, is averaging a team-leading 18.6 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 62.1% from the field, and producing 24 steals and 14 double-doubles this season.
Muench and Plamann are adding 15.0 and 13.4 points per contest, respectively, as Muench has knocked down 67 3-pointers and Plamann has dished out 96 assists.
Quinn Steckbauer, an All-WIAC Honorable Mention selection, is fourth on the squad at 10.3 points per game for the Titans, who also receive 8.4 points per contest from Cole Booth, 6.6 from Eric Peterson, 5.0 from Jonah Rindfleisch and 2.2 from JT Petrie. Peterson, named to the WIAC All-Defensive Team for the second straight year, averages 6.5 rebounds per game. Booth is shooting 80% at the free throw line, and Rindfleisch has a team-best 19 blocks.
Blackburn College is scoring 72.2 points and yielding 73.5 per game on the year. The Beavers have scored at least 82 points on seven occasions this season and drained double-digit 3-pointers 11 times, including 15 makes on 27 attempts from beyond the arc during their SLIAC quarterfinal victory over Spalding University (Ky.) on Feb. 22.
The Beavers feature a trio of double-figure scorers and five total players averaging better than seven points per game for a squad that has fired 703 of its 1,723 overall field goal attempts from 3-point range.
Chanz Aldridge leads the way for Blackburn College at 16.5 points per game, followed by Javon Stovall at 14.9, Jarrius Burnett at 11.3, Izayah Talmadge at 8.0 and Payton Krager at 7.4. Burnett, grabbing a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game, and Aldridge have combined to make 111 3-pointers this season. Talmadge has a team-leading .583 field goal percentage. Stovall, an All-SLIAC First Team honoree, contributes 5.4 rebounds per game to go along with a squad-best 82 assists.
Case Western Reserve University has a regular rotation of nine players as the Spartans average 84.6 points and allow 75.7 per game this season. The Spartans, who rank sixth nationally with a .778 free throw percentage, tops the UAA in scoring, field goal (.474) and 3-point (.367) percentages, per-game assists (17.5) and blocks (4.6), and made 3-pointers (227).
Mitch Prendergast is scoring a team-leading 17.6 points per game for the Spartans in addition to making 64 3-pointers at a 41.3% clip and ranking second in the nation with a .932 free throw percentage, going 68 of 73 at the charity stripe on the year en route to garnering All-UAA First Team recognition.
Cole Frilling and Robert Faller are adding 16.6 and 10.3 points per game, respectively, for a Case Western Reserve University team that also gets 9.2 points per contest from Ryan Newton, 7.7 from Brian Hines and 7.2 from Griffin Kornaker. Frilling averages 7.0 rebounds per contest, Hines is shooting 69.3% from the floor, and Kornaker's 6.5 assists per game rank ninth nationally.
University of Dubuque is riding a seven-game winning streak and has suffered just one loss since Dec. 19. The Spartans are scoring 73.7 points and yielding an ARC-best 63.8 per game on the year. More than 40% of University of Dubuque's field goal attempts this season have been from beyond the 3-point arc.
Peter Ragen's 16.3 and 5.7 rebounds per game, 54 made 3-pointers and 31 steals all lead the Spartans.
University of Dubuque's Jaylin McCants adds 10.9 points per contest, Sam Kilburg 9.5, Brock Simon 8.6 and Levi Scheuermann 6.9. Kilburg has dished out a team-high 97 assists, and Simon shoots a squad-leading 56.5% from the field. Key reserve Hunter Snyder chips in 3.9 points per game while shooting 50.8% from the floor, 47.8% from 3-point range and 85.7% at the free throw line in nearly 16 minutes played per contest.
UW-Oshkosh is hosting a regional for the first time under the current format. The Titans have not played at home during the first round of the NCAA postseason since 2003, when the top four teams in each of the four sectionals received byes into the second round. UW-Oshkosh was victorious in its 2003 Division III Championship opener, downing Milwaukee School of Engineering by a 78-56 score on the way to reaching the national quarterfinals.
The Titans have since appeared in the first round during both 2016 and 2017 NCAA postseasons, advanced to the 2018 title game, secured the 2019 national title and reached the second round in 2020.
Daily ticket prices for the regional are $15 for adults and $10 for students (K-College) and senior citizens (62-plus). Children ages 2 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased in advance at uwosh.universitytickets.com.
The UW-Oshkosh Police Department will implement security measures, including a bag search, at this weekend's regional in Kolf Sports Center.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early to ensure smooth entry as the only door open for entrance to Kolf Sports Center is Door 15 on the west side (Pearl Street) of the building. Fans will be admitted into Kolf Sports Center beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
2022 UW-Oshkosh Men's Basketball Oshkosh Regional Media Guide
2022 NCAA Division III Championship Oshkosh Regional Program
2022 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Digital Program