WHEATON, Ill. – The Carroll University men's basketball team was powered by sophomore Josh Hudgens' 31 points, but it was not enough as the Pioneers fell to the No. 18 ranked Wheaton College by a score of 73-94. Hudgens went 13-20 and 3-6 from deep and only had one turnover on the night.
 
The Pioneers (5-14, 1-9 CCIW) scored 39 first-half points to lead the Thunder at the break but squandered the second half as Wheaton scored 59 points on 71.9% shooting. Carroll shot over 50% themselves, including 7-17 from behind the arc. Carroll's bench came up with 25 of the team's points, with six coming from Ryan Mendoza. Carroll was only able to muster four steals tonight, leading to just nine points off turnovers. The Pioneers stayed out of foul trouble for the most part, but Wheaton still went to the line 15 times compared to Carroll's seven times.
 
Hudgens won the tip and scored the first five points for the Pioneers. Hudgens knocked down a three-point basket unassisted to give Carroll its first five-point lead of the night, six minutes into the first half. The Thunder were able to muster their first lead with 11:01 remaining off a pair of free throws.  Wheaton ran up the score with six unanswered points and forced a Carroll :30 second time out. Down eight, Carroll went on a 12-0 run fueled by six points from Hudgens. Mendoza's driving layup with a minute left gave Carroll its largest lead of the half at six points, but a last-second layup from the Thunder sent Carroll to the locker room up just four points.
 
The Pioneers and Thunder traded baskets to begin the second half, but Carroll scored seven-straight capped off by a second-chance Hudgens layup to take a seven-point lead with 15:38 left in the contest. A 14-6 run by the Thunder gave them back the lead in the second half, and they never looked back. Wheaton led by 10 with 9:43 remaining and by 20 with 6:53 left on the clock. Carroll went scoreless for over six minutes before Hudgens scored his 31^st point with 7:49 left in the game. Coach Combs began to go to his bench with 5:40 left in the game as Wheaton went up by 23 points.
 
Carroll gets back on the bus this Saturday and makes the trek down to Rock Island, Illinois for a rematch with the Augustana College Vikings. Carroll fell to the Vikings at home at the beginning of January.