No. 14 Wooster's Defense Smothers Luther 59-36

Matt Smith

The College of Wooster men's basketball showed no rust from a 13-day break in turning in a 59-36 trouncing of Luther College during the opening round of the Press Publication Bluejay Classic, hosted by Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill., Friday evening (Dec. 20).

Wooster (7-0) will play the winner of Alma College-Elmhurst in the championship game Saturday (Dec. 21), tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (30 minutes after the conclusion of the consolation game, which will start at 3 p.m. EST).

Defense was the name of the game for the Scots, ranked 14th in this week's d3hoops.com national poll, as they held an opponent under 40 points for the first time since Dec. 28, 1995, when they shutdown Dickinson College 86-31. Wooster limited Luther to 24.0 percent shooting from the floor (14-of-58), including just 2-of-23 from three-point range. In fact, the Norse misfired on their first 32 of 41 shots from the floor and had missed 18-straight three-pointers at one juncture.

The Scots broke the game wide open early in the second half, as they outscored Luther 23-6 during the first 14 minutes of that stanza to turn a 31-18 halftime lead into a 30-point margin (54-24).

The Norse made their first three-point attempt for the first basket of the game, but that would be the only time that they led.

Playing without their All-American candidate Bryan Nelson (Kettering, Ohio / Kettering Fairmont), who is resting a leg injury, the Scot offense had a different look, but Matt Smith (Elida, Ohio / Elida) picked up the slack with four three-pointers, three in the first half, for a team-high 12 points.

Matt Schlingman (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland) scored nine of Wooster's first 11 points and finished with 11, including 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line, while Rodney Mitchell (Elida, Ohio / Elida) rounded out the Scots double-digit scorers with 10 points and added team highs in rebounds (7) and assists (4).

Although Wooster was well under its season scoring average of 80.7 points, the Scots hit 8-of-19 three-pointers. They also outrebounded Luther 45-33.

The Norse's Justin Kiefer had a game-high 14 points.