EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's basketball team dropped its season opener 76-64 against St. Norbert College on Saturday at Zorn Arena. The Blugold men tipped off their final season in Zorn Arena with a strong start to the first half, but the Green Knights rallied after halftime to take the victory.
The Blugolds shot the ball well out of the gate to hang right with the Green Knights, who received votes in the d3hoops.com preseason Top 25 poll. Neither team established much of an advantage over the first 10-plus minutes of the contest, with each side finding the right touch from 3-point range to keep up with each other. The score was knotted up at 30 with six and a half minutes remaining in the opening half before the Blugolds seized control with a 7-0 run across the next three minutes, with
Cade Hall (Sr. - Mauston, Wis.) scoring the final three points of the spurt.
St. Norbert had an answer in the closing stages of the first half though. The Green Knights ended the half with an 8-2 push, but the Blugolds still led 39-38 at halftime. UW-Eau Claire shot 48% from the floor in the first half and 43% from long range.
An early push in the second half sent St. Norbert on the way to grab the lead for good. The Green Knights opened the period on an 8-2 run to go ahead 46-41. The Blugolds responded with a 6-0 run later and led 53-49 with 12:50 to go, but a 3-pointer at the 11:02 mark gave St. Norbert the final lead change of the afternoon. That was part of a 17-0 run that put St. Norbert ahead by 12 with under five minutes to play. The Blugolds couldn't quite recover.
Hall finished with a double-double for the Blugolds, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Carter Huschka (Sr. - Farmington, Minn.) had a game-high 21 points and added seven rebounds too.
Michael Casper (Sr. - Merrill, Wis.) and
Drew Maloney (Jr. - St. Charles, Minn.) scored nine points each.
Overall, the Blugolds shot 42% from the field and scored 32 points in the paint. Defensively, they forced St. Norbert into 10 turnovers.
UW-Eau Claire (0-1) will look to bounce back when it hosts St. John's (Minn.) on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at Zorn Arena. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
