Box Score
After three straight losses, maybe all No. 18 Kentucky Wesleyan needed was a chance to get back to beating up on an opponent.
The Panthers (15-3, 7-3 Great Lakes Valley Conference) did just that in an 83-56 drubbing of McKendree.
"It always is good to get a game like this in the league," coach Todd Lee said. "It's such a grind. We did a pretty good job, other than a stretch in the second half. But it's such a grind and every game's so hard. It is really good where you can have a game where you can play everybody and every can contribute.
"It's also good because we have a quick turnaround on Saturday and nobody played 30 minutes."
KWC exploited a short-handed McKendree team by scoring 60 points in the paint. The Bearcats (7-13, 1-9 GLVC) traveled with just seven players and were missing all four of their 6-foot-8 players, including starting center Matt Murphy who averages 11.4 points per game.
McKendree's short roster was simply unable to match the skill and depth of KWC's, especially in the post.
Center Dazmond Starke scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds while center Dominique Dawson scored 15 points. Together, they combined to shoot 14-of-17 from the field.
KWC also outrebounded McKendree 45-20 while shooting 57.1 percent.
"Before the game started, we wanted to get the ball inside and pound the offensive boards," Lee said. "We did both of those tonight, so that was good to see."
The smaller McKendree lineup caused problems for KWC at times, though, especially early on in the second half.
The Bearcats outscored the Panthers 14-9 midway through the second half and effectively took KWC out of its game for a little while, enough for Lee to call a timeout and tell his team to remain focused.
Clinton Happe finished with 19 points to lead McKendree.
Lee was worried about McKendree getting hot from 3-point range, but the Bearcats shot just 29.6 percent (8-of-27) on 3s.
"We've still got a long way to go in the improvement," Lee said. "That's why I got mad at the guys during a timeout. In the second half, (McKendree) was winning for a pretty good stretch. We just don't have time to take days off.
"Winning the game is great. We've just got to continue to get better. Obviously it's a much better feeling in the locker room. We've had a couple tough losses on the road."
KWC turns its focus to Saturday's road matchup with No. 6 Bellarmine, which lost 62-49 to No. 10 Southern Indiana on Thursday night. Knights Hall is already sold out for that game.
But before then, KWC will enjoy snapping a losing streak.
"We needed to get playing like we normally should," senior guard Kreig Oxley said. "Tonight was a good night. We played hard and took care of business like we were supposed to."
