STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Road games at UW-Eau Claire and No. 15 UW-Whitewater await the No. 19 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team as the Pointers open Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play this week.

THE BASICS
Who: No. 19 UW-Stevens Point (7-4) at UW-Eau Claire (7-4)
When: Wednesday, Jan. 6 – 7 p.m.
Where: Eau Claire, Wis. – Zorn Arena

Who: No. 19 UW-Stevens Point (7-4) at No. 15 UW-Whitewater (9-2)
When: Saturday, Jan. 9 – 7 p.m.
Where: Whitewater, Wis. – Kachel Gymnasium in Williams Center

FOLLOW THE GAMES
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Live audio – both games

OVER BREAK
UW-Stevens Point finished its non-conference schedule with three wins over the break to take a 7-4 record into WIAC play.

The Pointers started the stretch with an 82-66 win at Edgewood on Dec. 22 behind four players in double figures in scoring. Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) and Zack Goedeke (Valders, WI/Valders) each scored 17 points in the win and Brett Tauber (Madison, WI/Memorial) registered his first collegiate double-double of 11 points and 12 boards for UW-Stevens Point, which won its 10th consecutive game in the series.

UW-Stevens Point then picked up a pair of wins at the Arizona Shootout in Phoenix on Dec. 29-30. The Pointers opened the tournament with a 65-56 win over Keene State in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. UWSP used a 9-0 run to break a 46-46 deadlock midway through the second half and led by at least five the rest of the way.

The Pointers finished off back-to-back wins in Phoenix with a 61-43 victory against Hamilton the next day. McGann and Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, WI/Kettle Moraine Lutheran) each had 19 points in the win for the Pointers, who led 33-13 at the break.

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WRAPPING UP NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
UW-Stevens Point's 7-4 record in non-conference play marked the 10th consecutive season in which the Pointers have won at least seven non-league games. The Pointers are 78-16 (.830) in non-conference play since the start of the 2006-07 season.

HEATING UP
Improved shooting from the field, from behind the arc and from the free-throw line led to a nearly 10-point increase in scoring for UW-Stevens Point in its last three games, compared to its first eight contests of the season.

First eight games: FG pct. - .411, 3PT pct. - .313, FT pct. - .694, points per game – 58.5
Last three games – FG pct. - .469, 3PT pct. - .413, FT pct. - .755, points per game – 69.3

WIAC PRIMER | WIAC HISTORY
Seven of the eight WIAC teams enter conference play with a winning record and six of the eight teams are either 7-4 or 6-5. UW-Whitewater leads the way at 9-2.

Last season, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater shared the regular-season conference crown with identical 15-1 records after splitting their two games against each other. No other team finished better than 10-6 in the WIAC. The Warhawks went on to win the WIAC Tournament on their home court against UW-Oshkosh by a 71-57 score.

IN THE POLLS | D3HOOPS.COM TOP 25
UW-Stevens Point remained at No. 19 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 this week. The Pointers are ranked for the 50th consecutive week and have been in the top 25 for 139 of the last 141 polls.

ABOUT UW-EAU CLAIRE | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
UW-Eau Claire has won its last two and four of its last five games to finish its non-conference schedule 7-4. The Blugolds' last game was an 80-74 win over St. Olaf at home on Wednesday, Dec. 30. Four players scored in double figures for UWEC in the win over the Oles, led by Jack Martinek's 24 points.

The win was UW-Eau Claire's second at its home holiday tournament after the Blugolds edged Coe 72-69 the day before. UWEC's lone loss in its last five games was an 89-60 loss at St. Norbert on Dec. 12. UW-Eau Claire's 3-3 start featured a 76-62 loss to then-No. 4 St. Thomas in its opener and an 83-78 win over Concordia (Wis.), an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, on Nov. 24.

The Blugolds rank second in the WIAC and 37th in the country in rebounding margin (+7.2) and have had double-digit offensive rebounds in seven of their 11 games this season.

Martinek, a junior, is tied with McGann for third in the conference in scoring (15.5 ppg), while sophomore George Diekelman is eighth (13.5 ppg). Senior Tyson Kalien, a First Team All-WIAC choice last season, has played in only three games so far. Junior Jared Schneiderman is third in the WIAC in rebounding (7.3 rpg).

The Blugolds were picked sixth in the WIAC preseason poll and return 10 letterwinners and two starters from last season's team that was 11-16, including a 6-10 mark in the WIAC.

ABOUT UW-WHITEWATER | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
Since a 3-2 start to the season, UW-Whitewater has won six games in a row and is ranked No. 15 by D3hoops.com this week after moving up five spots. The Warhawks went 3-0 at the Pikes Peak Holiday Classic at Colorado College from Dec. 27-30. UWW opened the tournament with a 108-90 win over Concordia Texas and went on to defeat FDU-Florham 84-73 and host Colorado College 81-58.

UW-Whitewater's two losses this season have come to Davenport, the third-ranked team in NAIA Division II, 85-74 back on Nov. 20 and top-ranked Augustana (Ill.) 75-55 on Dec. 2. Both losses came in Whitewater.

Senior guard Trinson White was named the MVP of the Pikes Peak Holiday Classic after posting a pair of 20-point games and grabbing at least nine rebounds in all three games. White had 21 points and 19 rebounds, the third-most in program history, in the win over Colorado College.

White leads UWW in both scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg), which both are the second-best in the conference. Cole Van Schyndel leads the conference in field-goal percentage (.705) and is averaging 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.

UW-Whitewater leads the WIAC in scoring (82.6) and field-goal percentage (.502), which ranks eighth in the country. The Warhawks went over 100 points in back-to-back games against Concordia Chicago and Concordia Texas on Dec. 20 and 27 and have scored at least 80 points in their last five games.

THE COACHES
Bob Semling is in his 11th season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and has won four national championships with the Pointers. He led the Pointers to national titles in 2010 and 2015 as a head coach and was an assistant on the back-to-back national title teams of 2004 and 2005. Semling has a career record of 247-58 (.810), including a 134-25 (.843) mark in WIAC play. His .818 career winning percentage entering this season was the highest among active Division III coaches and ranks fourth all-time among all divisions for coaches with at least 10 seasons as a head coach.

This season is the fourth for Matt Siverling as UW-Eau Claire's head coach and he has a career record of 38-50 (.431) through three-plus seasons. Siverling came to UW-Eau Claire after two seasons as the head coach at UW-Superior, where he led the Yellowjackets to back-to-back WIAC Tournament appearances. A UW-Eau Claire graduate, Siverling was an assistant at his alma mater from 2004-07 and was a graduate assistant coach at Florida after graduating from UWEC.

Pat Miller is in his 15th season at the helm of the UW-Whitewater men's basketball program and boasts a 324-89 (.785) record at UWW. His career winning percentage of .784 entering this season ranked tied for 11th all-time among all NCAA divisions among coaches of at least 10 seasons. Miller has led the Warhawks to two national championships in the last four seasons (2012, 2014) and is a four-time WIAC Coach of the Year.

SERIES NOTES
UW-Stevens Point leads the all-time series with UE-Eau Claire 95-78 and the teams first met in 1916. The Pointers have won 29 of the last 30 against the Blugolds since 2002 with the lone UWEC win in that stretch coming on Feb. 18, 2012 in Eau Claire. Twenty one of UWSP's last 29 victories in the series are by double-digit points. Last season, UW-Stevens Point topped UW-Eau Claire 64-50 at home on Dec. 3 and 49-40 in Eau Claire on Jan. 31.

UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater will meet for the 185th time on Saturday in a series the Pointers lead 102-82 since the teams first met in 1912. The teams have split the last four meetings over the past two seasons after the Pointers won eight in a row between 2010 and 2013. The home team has won the last six games in the series. A year ago, the Warhawks won 59-44 in Whitewater on Jan. 21, 2015 before the Pointers claimed a 72-69 win on Feb. 11. at Quandt Fieldhouse.