Box Score HONOLULU, Hawaii - The University of Dubuque men's basketball team concluded their second and final game of the Hoops in Hawaii Classic on Friday night with a 84-68 victory over Lewis & Clark College to go 2-0 in Hawaii and remain unbeaten on the year at 9-0. McCants was named tournament MVP and Arguello was named to the All-Tournament team.
In the first ever matchup against Lewis & Clark in program history, the Spartans trailed early by as many as five points halfway through the first half. The Spartans would fight back and lead 34-33 at the half. In the second half, the Spartans would go on a 33-12 run to lead by as many as 20 which was their largest lead of the game with 6:29 remaining in the game. So far this season, the Spartans are outscoring their opponents in the second half by a 13.7 point differential.
McCants continues his dominance on the offensive end of the floor scoring 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
Sam Kilburg connected on 3-8 from beyond the arc and ended with 19 points, six rebounds, and a team-high five assists.
Taydem Arguello had a few dunks to go along with 15 points.
Dylan Anderson and
Grady Thompson each added 10 points to go along with eight rebounds.
The Spartans shot the ball efficient yet again in the Shark Tank shooting 45.1% from the field while making eight three pointers after only make two yesterday. The free throw line has become a reliable asset as the Spartans went 12-13 this afternoon. Outrebounding Lewis & Clark by 13 rebounds, the Spartans snagged 46 rebounds including 16 on the offensive end that led to 17 second chance points. There was 11 lead changes throughout the game with a majority of them in the first 20 minutes.
The points off turnovers battle was a key contributor to the Spartans success forcing 11 turnovers that resulted in 21 points. Lewis & Clark only had two points off nine Spartan turnovers. The Spartans were able to rely on points in the paint with 48 points coming inside on the offensive end. Lewis & Clark only had 22 points in the paint.
Hear From the Coach: Robbie Sieverding
"It was great to come away 2-0 in Hawaii. Today wasn't pretty at times and was a very physical game but our guys handled it and executed for the most part. Taydem and Jaylin scored it well in both games. I thought Sam and Brock passed it well and Sam made some big plays today. I also thought Dylan did a great job defensively and rebounded the ball great for us."
McCants was named the Hoops in Hawaii Classic Most Valuable Player after finishing the two day tournament with 53 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, and seven steals. Arguello finished the classic with 31 points to be named to the All-Tournament team.
The Spartans are going to head back to Iowa for Christmas with the best gift of all to start the basketball season without a blemish in the loss column at 9-0 overall.
Up Next
The Spartans will take a week off before they compete in the St. Norbert Nicloet National Bank Holiday Tournament for two games on Friday, December 29 and Saturday, December 30. First up is UW-Superior at 5:00 p.m. next Friday night.
