The Wildcats defeated the Schreiner Mountaineers for their third straight win on Monday night, 88-47.
Head coach Brette Tanner put a game plan together that allowed the Wildcats to start off on a 19-0 run against the Mountaineers and never looked back.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be a quick turnaround,” Tanner said. “It’s real easy to lose your edge in these games. Our goal was to come out and do what we do defensively.”
The Wildcats forced 34 turnovers with 37 points off of those turnovers to help seal the victory against the Mountaineers. The Wildcats have forced 20 or more turnovers in every game played so far this season.
“We want to get better every night,” Tanner said. “Defensively the other night I thought we hit a lull so tonight our goal was to not do that today and I think we did that. Thirty-four turnovers and 18 steals, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, that’s outstanding.”
Sophomore guard Logan McLaughlin led the Wildcats with 13 points, all in the second half, his highest-scoring game of the season.
“I’ve been waiting for Logan to step up and hit some shots,” Tanner said. “We know that’s what he can do at a high level. He’s got to step up defensively for us but in the past two games, he’s done a really good job. If he can step it up at the defensive end then we know what he’ll bring to us offensively.”
Behind McLaughlin in scoring was junior forward Airion Simmons with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Redshirt senior guard Tobias Cameron also posted 12 points on 5-7 shooting and seven rebounds, six of which were offensive.
“[The win] made our confidence go up,” Simmons said. “Playing together, sharing the ball, and just having fun together. It’s a big family on the court.”
Another factor in the win was the 54 points in the paint compared to Schreiner’s 22. The Wildcats also produced 56 points off their bench compared to the Mountaineers 22. The Mountaineers never led in this matchup and are now 0-5 against the Wildcats.
“Our goal everyday is to get better, and we did that tonight,” Tanner said. “We forced more turnovers, more steals, and I think our offensive execution was better. Our whole goal was to turn down good shots so we could get great shots. Hopefully when the University of Dallas comes in here we’re better on Wednesday than we were today.”
A quick turnaround looms for Tanner and the Wildcats as they face the University of Dallas, another Div. III opponent, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Teague Special Events Center, with the game airing live on ESPN+.
