| Steve Moore has won 700 games
and has a .777 lifetime winning percentage. Wooster athletics photo |
Steve Moore became the fourth coach in NCAA Division III history, and 30th across all three NCAA divisions, to reach 700 career wins when No. 8 ranked Wooster dispatched Denison by a 94-64 score Wednesday night during the North Coast Athletic Conference foes' lone regular season meeting.
Moore, now 700-201 in his 32nd season as a collegiate head coach, joins Glenn Robinson of Franklin & Marshall (847-310), St. John's Jim Smith (752-531), and Richard "Doc" Sauers of the University at Albany (702-330) in the exclusive 700-win club for Div. III.
After just 5:01 had elapsed of Wednesday's game, there was little doubt that Moore would achieve the milestone, as Wooster (18-2, 11-0 NCAC) jumped out to a 19-2 lead. Doug Thorpe accounted for 12 of those points himself, capping the early spurt with a 3-pointer that forced Denison (7-13, 5-6) into spending a second timeout.
The Big Red settled in after that, but they also never trimmed the deficit any closer than 14. It was 51-32 at halftime, and during the second, the Scots added a 15-0 run during one juncture in pushing the margin to 79-46 before ultimately securing a 30-point victory.
Statistically, Wooster made 56.1 percent of its field goals (37-for-66), which included 10-of-21 from the 3-point arc (.476), and helped limit Denison to a rate of .348 (24-for-69). Also of note, the Scots committed just four turnovers, compared to assists on 21 of their 37 field goals.
After his early outburst, Thorpe added just two more points for a 14-point night and joining him with team scoring honors were Xavier Brown and DeVaughn Wingard. For Wingard, a freshman, the 14 points marked a career high and they came on a near-perfect shooting night – 5-for-6 field goals, 3-of-3 3-pointers, and 1-of-1 free throws. He also contributed three of the team's seven blocked shots.
Two other Wooster players reached double figures, as Kenny DeBoer chipped in 11 points and Jake Mays 10 to go with eight rebounds.
The Big Red's top player, Dimonde Hale, recorded a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Next, the Scots will be at Wabash (6-14, 4-7 NCAC) Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip.