Burger Drops Career-High To Lift UD Over UW-Stout
Dec 20, 2019
Menomonie, Wis. – The University of Dubuque picked up an impressive 84-76 road win over UW-Stout on Friday afternoon behind 35 points from Mitch Burger and 20 more from Peter Ragen.
Both of the offense got off to a bit of a slow start as it took the Spartans seven minutes to reach double figures but their defense kept them in it, trailing just 14-11 after seven minutes. The Spartans trailed by as many as seven in the first half and only twice at 2-0 and 7-6. A Mitch Burger three pointer right before the first half buzzer capped a 8-2 UD run to get tie the score up at 36 all at halftime, the first time the score was tied since it was 9-9 with 15:38 remaining in the first half.
The Spartans scored four of the first six baskets of the second half to grab their largest lead of the game to that point at 45-40 after a Peter Ragen three pointer. For the next 11 minutes it was a battle with the score staying within a one possession game except for a brief four point Stout lead at the 10:49 mark.
A Mitch Burger layup with 7:31 remaining lifted the Spartans back in front at 62-61 and the Spartans looked as if they were going to start slowly pulling way, building an eight point lead with 4:16 remaining. However, the Blue Devils did not fade away, pulling within one point after a three-pointer with 2:21 left.
The very next possession, Burger continued with the hot hand and drilled a deep three to shift the momentum back to the Spartans. A UD stop and a Dylan Hundley layup on the other end all but sealed the win for the Spartans as UD connected on their free throws down the stretch to seal the road win.
Mitch Burger led the Spartans with a career-high 35 points, topping his previous career high of 33 against Millikin on Nov. 30th. Peter Ragen dropped 20 points on Friday afternoon, the second time he has broken the 20 point barrier this season. Avery Butler recorded yet another double-double, scoring 10 points and hauling in a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Spartans got to the free throw line early and often and took full advantage of it, getting to the line 29 times, connecting on 21 of them.
UD will take on Northwestern St. Paul on Saturday, Dec. 21st in the Twin Cities at 4 p.m.
