DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque men's basketball team once again would start quick and remain unblemished at home, a perfect 3-0 after an 88-71 victory over the Wartburg College Knights on Jon Davison Court Saturday. It would be a non-conference match-up with the two teams seeing one another in a conference battle on Feb. 17 in Waverly in the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) final scheduled regular season game.

The Spartans Patrick Mayfield led all scorers with 26 points, he ended the first half with a season high 19 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. He is averaging 23 points and five rebounds a game for UD while shooting over 55% from thr field and nearly 70% from beyond the three point arc. Freshman Sam Kilburg playing like a seasoned veteran, would finish the afternoon with 12 points, five assists, and three steals. Levi Scheuermann was 4-5 from the field to add 10 points and teammate Avery Butler finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds (nine defensive).

UD out rebounded the Knights 40-35, but were out scored by the Knights bench 44-32. Offensively the Spartans have been dominating the scoreboard by averaging 95 points a game and holding their opponents to 69.3 points on average (+25.7 margin). This season UD continues to convert opponents turnovers into points by scoring on average 18.3 points a game.

The Spartans will enjoy some time off before they travel to Pella, Iowa in the A-R-C season opener on January 23 against the Central College Dutch at 2 p.m. The American Rivers Conference has implemented a single round-robin format for the abbreviated season, allowing for eight conference games with all nine teams making the 2021 American Rivers Conference Tournament.
 

2020-21 American Rivers Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank	School (1st place votes)	Points	2019-20 Record
1.	Loras (3)	55	17-9, 10-6 A-R-C
2.	Nebraska Wesleyan (2)	54	25-4, 15-1 A-R-C (Reg. Season & Conf. Tour. Champion/NCAA Second Round)
3.	Wartburg (2)	44	12-15, 7-9 A-R-C
4.	Dubuque (1)	42	14-11, 7-9 A-R-C
T-5.	Buena Vista (1)	37	18-8, 9-7 A-R-C
T-5.	Coe	37	17-10, 11-5 A-R-C
T-7.	Central	19	5-20, 2-14 A-R-C
T-7.	Luther	19	8-17, 4-12 A-R-C
9.	Simpson	17	14-13, 7-9 A-R-C