Men's Basketball To Also Host Platteville Saturday

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Posted: Thursday, January 26, 2006

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team will also look to get back on track as it will host UW-Platteville in the second game of a men's and women's doubleheader to be held in Zorn Arena on Saturday night.

The Blugolds have an overall record of 9-9 and a conference record of 2-8. The Pioneers have a 9-8 record overall and a 4-5 conference record. The Pioneers defeated the Blugolds two weeks ago by a score of 66-60.

The Blugolds will look to get above .500 overall with the victory. Jared Bardon (So.-DeForest, WI) will lead the way for the Blugolds as he is the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.7 points per game.

The Blugolds will also need a good game from Zack Ryan (So.-Lake Elmo, MN/Tartan), who is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11 points per game. Dan Beyer (So.-Waukesha, WI/Catholic Memorial) is coming off of a career-high scoring performance against UW-Stout in which he scored 18 points.

The Blugolds continue to be at the top of the conference in perimeter defense as they are holding opponents to just 31.4% shooting from beyond the arc. The Blugolds are also third in the conference in steals per game averaging 7.44.

The Pioneers are coming off a close 78-73 loss in overtime to UW-Stout last Saturday. The Pioneers have been very balanced this season with four guys averaging in double-figures in scoring. LeVon Crawford leads the way, averaging 13.9 points per game.

The Pioneers are the best shooting team in the conference as they are shooting 48.4% for the season. They are second in the conference in rebounding margin as they are averaging almost four more rebounds per game than their opponents.

The Blugolds have lost the last three meetings against the Pioneers, but have the advantage in the series all-time 59-39.

The action gets underway at approximately 7 p.m. following the women's game Saturday night in Zorn Arena.

- JR -