STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team opens conference play on Wednesday with a home matchup with the WIAC preseason favorite UW-Oshkosh.
 
THE BASICS
Who: UW-Oshkosh (7-4) at UW-Stevens Point (6-4)
When: Wednesday, January 4 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse – Stevens Point, Wis.
Follow:  Live Stats | Watch | Listen - Newstalk 92.1 FM | Notes (PDF)
 
TICKETS:
$7 - Adult (general admission)
$3 - Seniors (65 and older)
$3 - Kids (6-12 years of age)
FREE - Kids (5 and under)
FREE - UWSP students with valid ID
Parking Information

LAST TIME OUT 
UW-Stevens Point split a pair of nail-biters to end non-conference play last week.  On Thursday, sophomore Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) knocked down two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining as the Pointers held on for a 65-63 win over North Central.  On Saturday, fellow sophomore Drew Fredrickson (Mount Horeb, Wis./Mount Horeb)'s three-pointer at the buzzer was no good as UWSP dropped a 78-76 decision to Augustana.  Another sophomore Brett Tauber (Madison, Wis./Memorial) and senior Aaron Retlaff both had career-highs with 19 and 10 points, respectively.

SEEING DOUBLE
Bublitz contributed a career-high 24 point in a win at Hope College on Dec. 10 and had 18 points versus Augustana on Saturday to extend his streak to 12-straight games in double-figure scoring, dating back to last season.  He is averaging 16.9 points per game this season which is the third-best scoring average among WIAC players.
 
Earlier this season, he picked up his first career double-double after he scored 19 points and had a career-best 11 rebounds in a victory over Lawrence on Nov. 26.  It was the first double-double by a Pointer since Sean McGann (Baraboo, WI/Baraboo) (10 P, 11 A) at UW-La Crosse on Feb. 20, 2016.
 
CONFERENCE RANKS
Bublitz is third in the WIAC at 16.9 points per game among league players and fourth in free throw percentage (.889).  Sophomore Mark Nelson (Madison, Wis./Monona Grove) is ninth among league players with a .529 overall field goal percentage.  Junior MJ Delmore (Wisconsin Dells, Wis./Wisconsin Dells) is sixth in the league with a .467 three-point shooting percentage.  Tauber ranks third in offensive rebounds at 1.90 per game.
 
As a team, the Pointers are third in the league with a .422 three-point shooting percentage, the 10th-best team average in the country, and third in the WIAC in blocks per game at 2.70.
 
OFFENSIVE BURST
Through 10 games, the Pointers are averaging 71.7 points per game, the best team scoring average in three seasons, including the 2014-15 National Championship team which averaged 66.4.  UWSP scored a season-high 95 points in the Dec. 22 win over Edgewood.  That point total was the most by the UWSP offense since a 99-73 victory over Lawrence in the opening game of the 2013-14 season on Nov. 16, 2013. 

ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT - Home | Roster | Schedule | Stats
UWSP saw its four-game home win streak snapped on Saturday with a 78-76 setback to Augustana.  The Pointers shot well from the field, but neither team was able to score a point in the final two and a half minutes.  Bublitz leads UWSP in scoring (16.9), rebounds (56), blocked shots per game (0.5) and steals (9).  MJ Delmore (Wisconsin Dells, Wis./Wisconsin Dells) and Bryce Williams (Maple Grove, Minn./Spring Lake Park) have heated up from behind the arc.  Delmore has nine long-range makes over the last three games while Williams has deposited 10 three-pointers over the last four games.

ABOUT UW-OSHKOSH – Home | Schedule | Roster | Stats  
The Titans enter Wednesday's WIAC opener as the preseason league favorite.  UWO suffered an overtime loss to Carthage at home on Saturday to end non-conference play and snap a five-game winning streak.  Sophomores Ben Boots and Brett Wittchow along with junior Charlie Noone are all averaging double-figure scoring this season.  The Titans' defense is allowing a league-low 63.5 points per game which ranks UWO 16th in the country.
 
SERIES HISTORY
UWSP hold a 122-85 all-time advantage against the Titans.  Last season, the teams split the season series each winning on the other team's court.  The Pointers fell to UWO in Stevens Point on Jan. 16 by a 64-59 final.  Two weeks later, UWSP downed the Titans in Oshkosh, 55-42.  A 12-1 run by the Pointers midway through the second half sparked the road victory. 
 
THE COACHES
Bob Semling in his 12th 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 262-70, including a 139-33 mark in WIAC play. His .795 career winning percentage entering this season was the highest among active Division III coaches and ranks ninth all-time among all divisions for coaches with at least 10 seasons as a head coach.
 
Head coach Pat Juckem is in his fifth year at UW-Oshkosh.  He holds a 60-58 record at the helm of the Titans.  Last season, Juckem led the Titans to the NCAA Tournament, UWO's sixth in program history and first under his guidance.  Juckem coached at Coe College prior to arriving in Oshkosh where he went 105-79, the second-most wins at Coe.  He also spent time coaching both basketball and football at his alma mater, Lawrence.
 
UP NEXT
The Pointers travel to UW-La Crosse on Saturday before returning to Bennett Court against UW-Stout next Wednesday (Jan. 11) in conference action.