LA CROSSE, Wis. – The No. 19 UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team held UW-La Crosse to just 13 percent shooting in the first half and used a 27-0 run to roll to a 63-44 victory on Wednesday evening at Mitchell Hall.

Box Score

Trailing 9-4 in the early minutes, the UW-Stevens Point (15-4, 9-1 WIAC) did not allow an Eagle basket the rest of the half, while scoring 27 unanswered points to take a 31-9 lead into the halftime break. UW-La Crosse (8-11, 3-7 WIAC) made three of its first four shots in the game but missed its final 18 field goals of the half.

In the second half, UW-La Crosse improved its shooting percentage to 36 percent, but never got close than the final scoreline. The Pointers entered the game with the nation's fifth-best scoring defense, allowing an average of 57.9 points per game but held the Eagles well under that mark.

In total, UWL was scoreless for a stretch of 16:58 of game time and its 44 points are the fewest since 2004, a stretch of 275 games. The 44 points are the fewest UWSP has held an opponent to since a 58-30 win over UW-Oshkosh on Jan. 15, 2014.

The Pointers led by as many as 28 in the second half, leading 46-18 after a three by Jordan Lutz (Amherst, WI/Amherst) with 13:19 remaining. The win was UW-Stevens Point's ninth in the last 10 meetings between the two teams and the team's eighth in its last nine games.

Alex Richard (Spring Green, WI/River Valley) led UW-Stevens Point with a game-high 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting and also grabbed eight rebounds. Austin Ryf (Winneconne, WI/Winneconne) and Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) each scored 11 points and combined to shoot 10-for-16 from the field.

The Pointers shot 26-for-58 (44.8 percent) in the game and held the Eagles to 13-of-50 (26.0 percent). UWSP held a 28-8 advantage in points in the paint and outrebounded UWL 44-27.

The teams combined for just 15 turnovers in the game, as UW-La Crosse committed just six. Skylar Cameron scored a team-best 11 points for the Eagles, while Sean Wheeler chipped in with nine off the bench in eight minutes.

UW-Stevens Point closes the week with a road game at UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 5 p.m.