PLATTEVILLE, Wis. (Nov. 8, 2026) - The Buena Vista men's basketball team cut a 20-point first half deficit down to three in the second half, but UW-Platteville used a strong long distance shooting game to pull away from the Beavers en route to an 88-65 non-conference victory on Sunday afternoon on Bo Ryan Court.
The Pioneers, who received votes in the preseason d3hoops.com top-25 poll, nailed three straight from downtown over the game's first two minutes which led to a quick 11-3 lead. The margin reached double digits moments later, and UW-P would maintain the cushion until burying two more from behind the arc during an 8-0 run to build the 20-point lead at 43-23 with 3:54 left in the half. BVU, which made 26-of-28 free-throws in the game, converted eight straight to close out the opening period to make it 43-31 at the half.
Buena Vista came out strong to begin the second half, using a 13-1 surge to cut its deficit down to 47-44 after a made three-point basket from senior
Kyle Sternberg at the 16:12 mark. The Pioneers, however, came right back with another long distance make to help spark a 16-7 run which again pushed its margin into double figures.
Junior
Jayden Brink brought BVU back within 63-56 after a three-point basket with 8:18 to go, and the Beavers were still within eight at 69-61 with 6:30 remaining. A big four-point play by the Pioneers would help spark a key 13-2 run over the next four minutes to put the game out of reach.
Junior transfer
Tyson Helms made all eight of his free-throw attempts, despite just 3-of-10 shooting from the field, and finished with a team-high 16 points. Brink was 3-of-5 from downtown and followed with 13 points and three assists while senior
Carter Sievers was 6-of-6 at the line and added 12 points.
Buena Vista was just 30.6 percent shooting (15-of-49) from the field, despite making 9-of-22 from downtown (40.9%). It stayed within striking distance of the Pioneers for most of the game with its 92.9 percent effort at the charity stripe. The team had only 11 turnovers in the game but couldn't cool UW-P down from three-point range as they shot 16-of-35 (45.7%) which accounted for half of their field goal makes overall. The Pioneers were limited to only six total free-throw attempts in the game.
The Beavers (0-2) look to bounce back when they host the second annual Central Bank Classic on Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14 inside of Siebens Fieldhouse. BVU faces Maharishi International University at 7 p.m. following the first game of evening at 5 p.m. between Howard Payne University and No. 5 Gustavus Adolphus.
