Sat 9-Dec-2000

Strong second half sends Pointers to win
By Jim Strick
For Central Wisconsin Sunday

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball team could have pressed the panic button at halftime, but instead, the Pointers just went back to basics.

After playing a sluggish first half Saturday night against UW-Stout and coming off a loss to UW-Whitewater Wednesday, the Pointers came out relaxed, scoring the first 11 points of the second half and taking a commanding lead to roll to a 79-58 victory over the Blue Devils.

"I was concerned at halftime, but I knew we could play our system better," said Pointers' coach Jack Bennett of the 31-30 lead at intermission. "The second half is the best 20 minutes of basketball we've played this season."

The big reason for the Pointers' surge was a sharp passing game as 10 of their first 14 baskets of the half were set up by assists. They also cranked up their defensive pressure, holding the Blue Devils without a field goal over the first 5:25 and to only six points in the first 11:30 of the half.

"We just needed to slow down and set up our cuts a little more," said Pointers' forward Joe Zuiker, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half. "We just spread it out more on offense and packed it in tighter on defense."

"We did a better job positioning ourselves defensively," Bennett explained. "We got our offensive spread flowing as well and had some real solid motion. We had a great blend inside and outside."

With UW-Stout limiting the Pointers to just four three-point field goal attempts in the first half, UW-Stevens Point moved its game inside as Zuiker, Josh Iserloth and Rich Steif combined for 31 of the 48 second half points.

"Our interior play tonight wasn't just one guy," Bennett said. "All three of them played well and that was huge for us."

Steif came up big in the first half as well, scoring 10 points in the first frame and finishing with game-highs 19 points and nine rebounds off the bench. In fact, the Pointers' bench accounted for 23 of the 31 first half points.

"Stief kept us in the game," Bennett said. "Without Rich, we could have been down 10 or 12 at halftime."

Steif sat out Monday's game against Mount Senario with a back injury and said the break was just what he needed as he hit seven of nine shots from the field.

"I've been resting it a bit and it felt great tonight," said the junior transfer from UW-Oshkosh. "A lot of things just dropped for me tonight."

Steif admitted the Pointers were a little stunned after the first half before they quickly regrouped at halftime.

"We were kind of questioning what was going on," Steif said. "But we came out on fire in the second half. That's a huge confidence boost for us."

"I know our system is good enough and we weren't doing things consistently in the first half," Bennett said. "We said at halftime that if we're going to go down, it's going to be with our system."

Aaron Vachowiak led the Blue Devils with 18 points, while Stevens Point native Pat Von Feldt added 12 points. The Pointers will play at UW-La Crosse Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a WIAC contest.