The Hurricanes defeated the Wolverines 106-58. The Wolverines dropped to 3-5 and are the current seventh seed.
The Hurricanes improved to 8-0 and clinch the first seed with a game left to play. The Wildcats are 7-1 and can finish the season with the same record as the Hurricanes, but the Hurricanes defeated the Wildcats earlier this season and thus they own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“It doesn’t really affect our strategy,” said Daniel Fisher, Hurricanes’ coach. “We’re still going to go out and work hard. We’ve got a good group of guys that are competitive and want to win.
Coach Fisher also had high praise for the Wildcats.
“The Wildcats are solid,” Fisher said. “It’s definitely been the most competitive game we’ve had so far, so we’re excited (for a chance) to play them again.”
The first quarter between the Hurricanes and Wolverines was close, with the teams exchanging baskets. A 3-pointer from Hurricane Tyler Shippen put them up 14-10 with 5:30 left in the quarter. Wolverine Ethan Nielson responded with a three of his own to tie it at 16. However, the Hurricanes led 20-16 after the first quarter.
The Hurricanes started the second quarter by going on an 18-4 run in the first four minutes, taking a 38-20 lead. They continued to lead at halftime, 47-28.
“I don’t think anybody was being selfish on offense; (we were) hitting the open guy,” Shippen said. “It was really our defense. I think we got four or five steals in that stretch and got about 10 points in transition buckets.”
The Hurricanes built on their lead in the third quarter, and another Shippen 3-pointer gave them a 69-37 lead with 4:26 left in the quarter. They led 85-45 after the third quarter and finished the game with a 48-point victory.
The Hurricanes dominated the paint, deflecting passes on defense and securing many offensive rebounds.
“It’s … who we are,” Shippen said. “We got guys that are big enough to get in there and smart enough to get in the right positioning. We outrebound a lot of guys.”
Find the up-to-date league standings on the Campus Recreation team standings website.
Games will continue on Friday when the 7-1 Wildcats take on the 5-2 Knights.