The Valparaiso University men's basketball team boasted the third largest margin of victory in program history, blitzing Concordia Ann Arbor 111-46 in Friday's home opener at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Seven Beacons scored in double figures as part of a balanced effort.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo scored the game's first 15 points, racing out to a 15-0 lead in the first five minutes.
• Fifth-year senior Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian Academy [Olivet Nazarene]) drilled a triple with 13:57 left in the first half, extending the lead to 20-2. A basket by redshirt freshman Lucas Scroggins (Woodbridge, Va. / Hylton) enlarged the gap to 20 at 22-2 with 12 minutes to go in the half. That started a stretch of four Scroggins baskets including three dunks, two of which were alley-oops. That burst lifted the lead to 28-6 midway through the half.
• The Beacons went on a 17-0 run late in the first half that culminated with a 3-pointer by All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) to boost the advantage to 44 at 57-13 with 1:23 left in the opening half. Schmidt hit a triple to close out the half, extending the gap to 63-18.
• Junior Devon Ellis (Schaumburg, Ill. / Conant) tallied 14 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting and was two boards shy of a double-double at halftime.
• The dominance continued in the second half as the Beacons outscored the Cardinals 48-28 over the final 20 minutes. Sophomore Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest) came to life in the second stanza with 11 points and nine rebounds. Scroggins slammed home a second-chance dunk and Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep) had a flush of his own among the second-half highlights.

Inside the Game

• The 65-point margin of victory represented the third largest in program history. This was Valpo's most lopsided win since beating IU South Bend by 70 (111-41) on Nov. 28, 2005. The program record for margin of victory is 79 in a 132-53 win over Western Ontario on Dec. 5, 1964.
• This marked the 11^th most lopsided game nationally involving a Division-I team so far this season.
• This marked Valpo's highest scoring output since Nov. 6, 2018, a 121-65 win over Concordia Chicago. This was the fifth time in the last quarter century that Valpo has scored upward of 110 points.
• Valpo shot 58.2 percent for the game, the team's highest field-goal percentage since 58.3 on March 3, 2022 against Evansville.
• The Beacons outrebounded the Cardinals 62-28. The +34-rebounding margin was Valpo's largest on record. The team's last time over +30 in rebounding margin was +31 on Nov. 21, 2017 vs. Samford. Valpo outrebounded Purdue Northwest by 32 on Nov. 18, 2010. The Beacons are just the 11^th team nationally this season with a rebounding margin of +34 or better.
• Ellis had a team-high 16 points to go along with nine boards. Redshirt sophomore Isaiah Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz. / Davidson Academy [GCU]) tallied 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while De La Cruz Monegro had 13 on 5-of-7 and Schmidt added 13 on 5-of-8.
• Scroggins enjoyed a perfect night from the floor, knocking down all six of his field-goal attempts while finishing with 12 points and five rebounds. He became the first Valpo player to go perfect from the field with at least six attempts since Donovan Clay on Dec. 30, 2019 vs. Loyola Chicago.
• Schwieger posted his third career double-double with 11 points and 14 boards. He usurped his previous career high on the glass of 13 that came on Jan. 14, 2024 at Illinois State.
• Schwieger added four blocks, the most by a Valpo player since Jaxon Edwards and Ola Ajiboye had four apiece on Nov. 14, 2023. Schwieger became the first Valpo player to record four blocks in a double-double since Vashil Fernandez (13 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks) on Jan. 16, 2016 vs. Green Bay.
• Freshman Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West) made it seven Beacons in double figures with 10 points.
• Senior Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) and Wright handed out six assists apiece as part of a 28-assist evening for the team. This marked Valpo's highest assist total since handing out 28 on Nov. 27, 2021 vs. Trinity Christian.
• The 46 points were the fewest by a Valpo opponent since Judson's 45 on Dec. 6, 2020.
• Valpo improved to 19-1 in its last 20 home openers with 17 of those home-opening victories coming by double-figure margins.

Postgame Press Conference
Click here to view the postgame press conference.
 
Up Next
The Beacons (1-1) will host Cleveland State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Athletics-Recreation Center. For ticket information, visit www.tickets.valpoathletics.com.