PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – Behind a team-high 25 points from senior Max Love, the No. 18 University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's basketball team (1-0) beat Nebraska Wesleyan (0-1) in the season opener by a score of 78-62 on Sunday afternoon from Bo Ryan Court.

Love was an efficient 8-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-8 on three-point tries, to lead four Pioneers in double figures. Twenty of his 25 points came in the first half, and the increased defensive focus in the second half resulted in several assists for Love. He finished with a team-high seven assists, and his seven boards tied senior Aiden Wieczorek for the team lead.

Junior Lucas Rameker knocked down a trio of triples to score a career-high 13 points, while junior Bristol Lewis posted 11 points and six rebounds. Off the bench, junior Max Lucey reached double digits for the first time in his career with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting. Wieczorek added nine points in addition to his seven rebounds and filled the stat sheet with four assists and three steals.

Love provided much of the early scoring, as he connected on a pair of threes and a layup to score the first eight points for UW-Platteville. The Prairie Wolves hung close over the next several minutes and took a five-point lead at 28-23 after scoring nine straight points. Freshman Kaden MacKenzie snapped the scoring drought with a turnaround jumper and the Pioneer slowly erased the deficit and regained the lead on a three-point make by Love with 1:46 left in the half. Rameker drained a three on the next possession and following a pair of free throw makes by Lewis, the Pioneers took a 39-33 lead into the break.

UW-Platteville increased the lead to double digits midway through the second half following an 11-2 run. Highlighting the scoring stretch was a three-point make by Rameker and a four-point play by Lewis to make the score 56-43. In the closing minutes, the Pioneers led by as many as 19 following a layup by Lucey while not letting Nebraska Wesleyan to get any closer than nine in wrap up the win.

For the game, UW-Platteville shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor and 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from beyond the arc. The Prairie Wolves went 39.2 percent (20-of-51) from the field and 36.0 percent (9-of-25) from deep. The teams were nearly equal from the free throw line, with the Pioneers going 12-of-20 compared to 13-of-19 for Nebraska Wesleyan.

UW-Platteville will play a pair of homes games next weekend at the Gabe Miller Classic. The Pioneers will open with Coe on Friday night at 7 p.m.

*As with every UW-Platteville win this year, the Platteville A&W will be offering a free ice cream cone (with purchase) the day after the win and the Platteville Taco John's will be offering a free churro (with purchase) the day after each Pioneer win.