Box Score
The University of Southern Indiana got a lot of offense far from the basket Monday night.
Kentucky Wesleyan College had a tough time making shots from much closer to the hoop.
Those factors were major in USI's 72-53 beating of the No. 4 Panthers in front of a huge Sportscenter crowd of 4,712.
The No. 15 Screaming Eagles handed KWC its first loss in this season and made each team 6-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
USI (13-2) sizzled from 3-point range on a freezing cold night, hitting 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. The Screaming Eagles made 28-of-58 from the floor for 48.3 percent.
"We're not real smooth offensively," USI coach Rodney Watson said. "But we got the ball to people in the right spots, and let's face it, we made shots. I would have never thought we'd make seven 3s, but that was the difference in the game."
Orlando Rutledge made 2-of-3 on 3s on the way to a team-high 14 points. Austin Davis also made 2-of-3 on 3-pointers and scored eight points. Taylor Wischmeier scored 12 points off the bench for USI.
KWC was the exact opposite offensively. The Panthers had trouble close to the basket all night, and they never got anything going from the outside.
KWC made 19-of-56 from the floor for 33.9 percent and was 1-of-8 from 3-point range.
"We missed a lot of layups in the first half. Their length bothered us," KWC coach Todd Lee said. "If you're not making your layups you're not shooting the ball very well. They are big, their size bothered us. We've got to do a better job of finishing around the basket against some pretty long defenders.
"Our three starting guards went 3-for-18."
Watson thought the way USI handled KWC guards Lucas Barker and Kreig Oxley were major factors in the Screaminig Eagles' success.
"Kreig Oxley got two fouls in the first half, and he's a big part of their offense," Watson said. "That took away their perimeter shooting for part of a half. Kenyon Smith did a good job on Lucas Barker. Kenyon really disrupted Barker, wore on him. (Barker) was 1-for-6 in the first half."
Barker was called for a technical foul with 1:26 left in the first half, which was part of a 7-0 USI run that put it up 38-27 at halftime. USI started the second half with a 3-pointer from Lawrence Thomas and a traditional 3-point play by Keith DeWitt to go up 44-27.
KWC got back in contention when Dazmond Starke put together a personal 12-0 run to get KWC back within five, 48-43, with 12:51 left.
USI got control of the game with a 15-3 run that built a 63-46 Screaming Eagle lead, and pushed them to their biggest margin of victory at the Sportscenter.
The one bright spot for KWC was the play in the second half of Starke, who led all scorers with 22 points while he also pulled down nine rebounds.
"I come to play any day, every day, I'm ready," Starke said. "We've got to make sure everybody is on the same level on a consistent basis."
