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St Elizabeth
12/17/2022 | 7:00 PM
Dec 17 (Sat) / 7:00 PM
St Elizabeth
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MADISON, Wis. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team led by as many as nine points and held a one-point lead at the half, but no. 22 Wisconsin pulled away in the second half to hand the Mountain Hawks an 88-56 loss inside the Kohl Center on Thursday evening.
“I was proud of our guys’ fight and effort, especially being shorthanded, I thought they worked well together and took care of the ball and competed,” commented Head Coach Dr. Brett Reed. “We hit a small stretch in the second half where we made some uncharacteristic mistakes, which made it harder to recover, but if we correct those mistakes, we put ourselves in a good place to steal a win on the road.”
The Mountain Hawks (4-5) suffer their third-straight loss and drop the first-ever meeting between the two programs, as the Badgers (9-2, 2-0 Big Ten) make it four-straight victories and back-to -back wins inside the Kohl Center.
Lehigh had his first lead of the night after a pair of jumpers knocked down by sophomore Keith Higgins Jr and senior Jakob Alamudun, who made his first start of the season, converted a jump shot to give the Brown and White a 6-5 lead. The Mountain Hawks extended their advantage to eight points, 13-5, and held Wisconsin scoreless for over six minutes. Lehigh’s largest lead of nine points came with 9:38 remaining in the first half at 17-8 before the Badgers countered with 10-straight points to go back in front, 18-17. Both squads exchanged buckets and Wisconsin went ahead 31-29, but Taylor drained a three-pointer with under 30 seconds remaining to give Lehigh a 32-31 halftime lead.
Opening the second half with the Badgers and Mountain Hawks going bucket-for-bucket before Higgins Jr hit a trey and a mid-range jumper to put the Brown and White on top by five points, 43-38 with 14:19 to play. Wisconsin made its next three three-pointers to take the lead for good and reached its first double-digit advantage at 59-49 with 6:53 remaining. The Badgers pulled away and avoided the first-half deficit with an 88-56 win over Lehigh.
“A lot of credit to Wisconsin,” added Reed. “They’re a really good team and were disciplined and resilient. They stayed confident in who they were and what they were about and extended it.”
Taylor led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with 18 points, two rebounds and an assist, scoring in double-figures for the seventh game this season. Taylor shot 70 percent (7-for-10) from the floor, 2-for-3 beyond the three-point line, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, the only free throws attempted for Lehigh. Following suit was Higgins Jr., who recorded 15 points and two rebounds, shooting 7-for-11 from the field, and made the only three-pointer he took in the contest.
Sophomore Tyler Whitney-Sidney tallied eight points with four boards, two assists and a steal while junior Dominic Parolin tallied six points, a team-high five rebounds, two steals, an assist and a blocked shot. Alamudun was the co-leader with five boards and led the squad with two blocked shots to go with two assists and a steal in his first start.
A great first half saw Lehigh shoot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field and just 25 percent (2-for-8) from long distance while holding the Badgers to 36.7 percent (12-for-31) from the field . The Mountain Hawks finished the evening with a 49.0 percent field goal percentage and Wisconsin ended the night shooting 51.7 percent from the floor and over 52 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Lehigh recorded 15 points off of 10 Wisconsin miscues as the Mountain Hawks turned the ball over 13 times which the Badgers turned into 20 points.
“We battled and fought, was confident, patient, and deliberate at times to find easy opportunities,” continued Reed. “This game gave us the opportunity to prepare for our league play, challenging us in ways that will only make us more confident,
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 17 when they host Division III St Elizabeth. Tip-off is set for 7 pm inside of Stabler Arena and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com.
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