The UWO men’s basketball team posted a school-record 21-striaght wins and gained regional and national recognition because of it.

The No. 3-ranked Titans lost a non conference game to Wheaton College by a score of 86-74 in the second game of the season and proceeded to rattle off 21-straight victories before falling to UW-La Crosse.
Over the course of the season, UWO has posted scorching shooting numbers. The team is shooting just under 48 percent from the field and 38 percent from the 3-point line
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A large part of the streak can be attributed to the team sharing the ball, as it is averaging 15.8 assists per game, an increase of one-and-a-half assists per game from last year.
With the success has come a lot more media attention. Senior Brett Wittchow said the team has done a good job blocking that out and focusing on day-to-day tasks.

“Our theme this season has been focusing on one day at a time,” Wittchow said. “We try to not look too far ahead, instead focusing on today’s practice, or today’s game. I think it’s helped keep our attention in the present, instead of on all this media attention and regional or national recognition.”

Senior Ben Boots echoed Wittchow’s idea of staying in the moment.

“We just try to focus on ourselves each and every day,” Boots said. “We know how good of a team we are and any attention that comes from the outside doesn’t affect us.”
Wittchow said the team has put in the extra work to become one of the best teams in UWO history.

“I think one thing our team [did] exceptionally well during this streak is maintaining a hungry work ethic,” Wittchow said. “Whether it’s practice, lifting or extra workouts, our guys have treated each one like it’s day one of the season.”

Last season, the Titans played their way to a national championship game appearance but fell short. The team is looking to make it back to the title game this season and is primed to do so as they are currently set up to host multiple playoff games.
Wittchow said there are also things the team can work on going into the postseason.

“There are plenty of things we can polish up going into the postseason,” Wittchow said. “I think one thing we can always get better at is our communication. We have a veteran core but also have young guys with significant roles. The more we can communicate with them on the court, the better our team can be.”

Senior Alex Van Dyke said the team’s preparation contributes to its ability to block out attention from people outside the program and focus on winning.
“We do the same thing every week; we treat every team like it’s the best team on our schedule,” Van Dyke said. “We don’t concern ourselves with anything people outside of our program have to say about us good or bad.”