Bouncing back in a big way from two consecutive losses, the North Central College men's basketball team was relentless in its conquest of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Thursday, leading from wire to wire in a 82-52 walkover at Williams Fieldhouse.

The Cardinals (2-2) scored the first 12 points of the contest, owned a 20-point lead at halftime and were not threatened down the stretch in recording their most decisive win since a 87-30 victory over Illinois Institute of Technology on Nov. 20, 2013.

North Central held the Pioneers (4-3) scoreless for the first six minutes of play and led, 18-2, after nine minutes had elapsed. The hosts regrouped and narrowed the gap to 23-13 with 6:53 on the first-half clock, but the Cardinals countered with 13 unanswered points to put any thoughts of a comeback to rest. Aiden Chang closed the period with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, sending the visitors into halftime with a 39-19 lead after limiting Platteville to 26.1 percent shooting (6 of 23) in the opening 20 minutes.

The Cardinals' lead never dipped below 18 points in the second half and ballooned to as many as 34 following Jeremy Ireland's layup with 6:01 still to play. North Central made 11 of 13 field-goal attempts in a six-minute stretch midway through the period, including three straight fast-break baskets which prompted Platteville's final timeout with 6:44 to play.

North Central owned a 44-28 rebounding advantage and scored 21 points off of 12 Pioneer turnovers. Alex Sorenson finished with a game-high 25 points on 11 of 17 shooting in just 24 minutes, while Jayme Moten put up a season-best 18 points and Connor Raridon pulled down nine rebounds. 

Boston Johnson paced the Pioneers with 14 points, while Dan Lowe finished with 12.

North Central travels to take on Alma College (2-3) on Sunday. Tipoff at Cappaert Gymnasium is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Eastern time.