The UW-Eau Claire men’s basketball team improved to 4-3 on the season after a 79-43 victory over Northland College.

The Blugolds were led by a career-high tying 13 points from third-year guard Drew Maloney, who shot 80% from the field in the game.

The Blugolds dominated the first half scoring 35 points to Northland’s 12. Their defense was a huge reason for this, dominating the boards with 48 total rebounds.

The lead grew in the second half where the Blugolds scored 44 to Northland’s 31, finishing the game 79-43. 

After this victory, the Blugolds’ win streak has improved to three in a row after starting off the season 1-3.

The 13 points scored by Maloney tied his career high for points in a game on Saturday and it happened with only five shots.

“It was probably my most efficient night in terms of shooting percentage,” Maloney said. “Other games I put up 11, 12 shots and those should really be 15 to 20-point games if I am shooting as well as I should be.”

The Blugolds with a slow start still finished 50% from the field shooting 29-58. The team was also 41% from the 3-point line shooting 11-27.

Confidence is key for Maloney and keeping this momentum going while being efficient will help him put up new career highs. 

“I was put in a great position by my teammates,” Maloney said. 

The Blugolds had 17 assists in their game against Northland which is the most in a game this season. 

One of the key contributors to that assist total was Nolan Blair who had five assists in the game, which is his most for the season up to this point. 

“We just pride ourselves on sharing the ball,” Blair said. “Good things happen when the ball moves.”

The Blugolds dominated on the defensive side of the court which turned into 13 points of turnovers. The energy they bring on the defensive end is “critical,” Blair said.

“If we bring it every game on the defensive end we know we’ll have a chance to win,” Blair said. 

“We were very disciplined on defense,” head coach Matt Siverling said.

The huge defensive performance caused Northland to only shoot 27% from the field throughout the whole game. 

Blair said the team’s confidence continues to grow after three straight wins.

“We are playing pretty good basketball so our confidence level just continues to rise,” Blair said. 

“The motto is ‘stack wins,’” Maloney said. “We take that both literally and figuratively.” 

Their motto sticks with them not only in games but also in practice. “Trying to stack good days on top of each other,” Blair said. “Taking it day by day.”

For Maloney, the biggest thing for them is to, “Keep building their confidence as we go into the conference.” 

For Siverling “defensive discipline was key,” if the Blugolds can stay disciplined it will be huge for them moving forward.

The Blugolds currently rank fifth in the WIAC. The Blugolds do not get into conference play until Jan. 3 against UW-Platteville.

This game against Northland was the first of four games for the Blugolds on the road before coming back home to Zorn Arena.

For their upcoming game, they will be traveling down to Iowa to take on the Wartburg College Knights at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6. 

Youngerberg can be reached at [email protected].