WIAC Men�s Basketball Tournament Semifinal Preview �

#3 seed UW-Whitewater (20-6) at #2 seed UW-Stevens Point (21-5)
Quandt Fieldhouse (3,281) � Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Thursday, February 21, 2002 � 7:00 p.m.

Game Outlook:

     One of the WIAC�s three tri-champions will be eliminated from the WIAC Tournament on Thursday night in Stevens Point. The Pointers and the Warhawks shared the regular season title with UW-Oshkosh, but only the tournament champion is guaranteed a berth in the NCAA III Tournament.

Broadcast:

The Pointers� game can be heard live on WIZD (99.9 FM) with Scott Krueger and John Zellmer handling the call. S-TV, student television (Stevens Point cable channel 10) will broadcast the game live with John Kemmeter and Todd Berry on the call.

The Coaches:

UW-Stevens Point head coach Jack Bennett, has a 118-43 career record in his sixth season with the Pointers.

UW-Whitewater coach Pat Miller is in his first season at the helm of the Warhawks. Miller spent the last eight years as the Warhawks top assistant under former head coach Dave Vander Meulen.

WIAC Tournament Information:

     The winner of Wednesday�s UW-Stevens Point/UW-Whitewater game will advance to the WIAC Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, February 23 at 7:00 p.m. The other semifinal features WIAC tri-champion UW-Oshkosh (#1) hosting UW-River Falls (#5). The WIAC Tournament champion receives an automatic berth into the NCAA III Tournament. In all WIAC Tournament games, the higher seed plays host.

Series History:

The Pointers lead the all-time series between the two schools 85-69. The Pointers broke a three-game Warhawk winning streak in the series with a 91-80 overtime victory in Whitewater earlier this year. The Warhawks claimed a 72-71 victory in the team�s first meeting. The Pointers won the only previous postseason game between the two teams, 77-67 in a 1999 WIAC Tournament Quarterfinal game.

Pointers Update:

     Sophomore guard Neal Krajnik recorded his career-high in points and played a fabulous all-around game, as the Pointers eliminated UW-Platteville 72-57 in a WIAC Tournament Quarterfinal game. Krajnik made five of six shots from the field, including a three-for-four effort from the three-point line to finish with 21 points. Krajnik also had six steals, five rebounds and three assists. Josh Iserloth scored 15 points, while Jason Kalsow and Kalonji Kadima chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Pointers put the game away by making their last 14 free throws in a row.

Warhawks Update:

The Warhawks avoided a repeat of last year�s quarterfinal result, by downing UW-Stout 85-77. In 2001, the Blue Devils upset the top-seeded Warhawks in the first game of the WIAC Tournament. Tuesday night, however, Aubrey Lewis-Byers made 15 of 20 free throw attempts and finished with 21 points to lead five Warhawks in double figures. Jonathan Hodges and Andre Hicks each scored 14 points. For the season, Lewis-Byers averages 18.3 points per game. Jake Wolter and London Donlow contribute 12.5 and 12 points per game, respectively. Lewis-Byers also pulls down a team best 5.7 rebounds per game for the Warhawks.

Game Notes: