WHITEWATER, Wis. -- No. 20 Wisconsin-Whitewater rode hot shooting to an 85-60 victory over the Trine men's basketball team Monday night at Kachel Gymnasium.
The Warhawks, who entered the game as the top three-point shooting team in the nation, knocked down 14-of-27 (52 percent) from three-point range and shot 50 percent overall (29-of-58) from the field. Zach Knobloch paced Whitewater with 24 points, all of which came on an 8-of-11 effort from long distance. Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind. / Zionsville) scored 14 points and dished out five assists for the Thunder. Trine fell to 4-5 overall. Wisconsin-Whitewater improved to 8-0.
Whitewater scored 25 points off 19 Thunder turnovers. Andre Brown came off the bench to contribute 12 points for the Warhawks, while Chris Jones scored 10 points. Demetrius Woodley dished out six assists to lead a Whitewater effort that saw Warhawk players pick up assists on 17 field goals.
Kyle Dodson (Centerville, Ohio / Centerville) added 13 points for the Thunder, which included a 3-of-5 effort from three-point range. Langston Johnson (Elkhart, Ind. / Elkhart Central) knocked down 4-of-8 threes on his way to 12 points. Jason Clune (Meadville, Pa. / Meadville) notched career-bests with 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Trine shot 40 percent (22-of-55) from the field.
Whitewater never trailed in the contest. Knobloch knocked down three treys to open the game and give the Warhawks a 9-0 start. Trine hit back with an 8-0 run, but that was as close as the game would get. Whitewater outscored the Thunder 20-5 over the next 6:24 to push the lead to 16. Trine was unable to close to single digits the rest of the night.
Knobloch scored 18 of his points in the first half to pace Whitewater's efforts to pull away early. Johnson knocked down all four of his threes in the first half for the Thunder. The Warhawks held Trine to 36 percent (12-of-33) from the field in the second half to continue to pull away and seal the win.
Trine returns to action Thursday, Dec. 29 when the team wraps up a three-game stretch of road games at Wilmington (Ohio). Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.