The Valparaiso University men's basketball team bounced back in a big way on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center, downing Western Michigan 84-55 thanks in part to the sharpshooting of Owen Dease (Evansville, Ind. / Evansville Reitz), who had 18 on 7-of-11 shooting and drained four 3s. This marked Valpo's most lopsided victory over a Division-I opponent in eight years.
 
How It Happened

• Western Michigan scored four of the game's first five points, but Valpo quickly recovered and took the lead on a 3-pointer by Brody Whitaker (Greencastle, Ind. / Greencastle [University of Indianapolis / Marian]) with 16:14 left in the opening half.
• Neither team found the cup often in the game's early stages, but the Beacons held the Broncos without a point for over six full minutes, using a 12-0 run to vault ahead 13-4 after a second-chance trey by Dease with 10:58 on the first-half clock.
• Dease dialed up another from distance with 9:11 remaining in the half to open up the first double-figure lead for the hosts, then he went to the basket for a second-chance layup to lift the gap to 12.
• Dease continued his huge half, then Carter Hopoi (Tauranga, New Zealand / Mount Maunganui College NZ]) and Mark Brown Jr. (South Phoenix, Ariz. / Bella Vista Prep [Snow College]) swished in back-to-back 3-balls to balloon the cushion to 18. Brown buried another triple as the buzzer sounded to end a stellar opening half for the Brown & Gold, lifting the lead to 20 at 37-17.
• Dease had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half alone, while Western Michigan totaled just 17 points and did not hit a 3-point shot in the opening stanza on just three attempts while shooting a mere 26.9 percent from the floor.
• Western Michigan engineered an eight-point run to start the second half, shriveling the lead to 12 with just two minutes elapsed. Whitaker scored Valpo's first seven points of the half to help stem the tide, and then Dease's 3 with 15:48 on the clock built the lead back to 17.
• The Valpo advantage fluctuated between 15 and 18 until JT Pettigrew (Lisle, Ill. / Bolingbrook) laid one in to push it to 21 at 60-39 with 8:30 to play. Pettigrew continued his late burst and Isaiah Barnes (Chicago, Ill. / Simeon Career Academy [Tulsa/Michigan]) got in on the 3-point act, helping Valpo build the lead past 30. The Beacons were up 32 when the walk-ons took the court for the final Valpo victory lap with 1:12 to go.

Inside the Game

• The 29-point margin of victory was Valpo's largest since beating CCSJ 107-57 on Dec. 22, 2024 and was the team's largest against a Division-I opponent since Nov. 19, 2017 (vs. Southeastern Louisiana, W 83-50).
• Valpo held Western Michigan to a season-low 55 points, the fifth time in seven games that Valpo has held an opponent to 65 points or fewer.
• Dease has scored nine points or more in four straight including three of his last four in double figures. His 18 points surpassed his previous season high of 13 on Nov. 12 vs. Nicholls. This was his highest scoring output since 20 on Feb. 10, 2025 at Lamar while playing for Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
• Dease drained four 3s, tying a career high set on March 8, 2023 vs. Northwestern State.
• Dease was at the forefront of four Beacons in double figures as Brown (15), Whitaker (14) and Barnes (10) were all members of that club on Saturday.
• Barnes had his third double-figure scoring output of the season, while Whitaker turned in a season best and was in double figures for the second straight contest. He improved to a perfect 10-for-10 at the free-throw line this season.
• Brown's 15 points marked his highest output of the season and his first double-figure performance in a Valpo uniform. He got there on 4-of-7 shooting and 3-of-5 from 3 while also going 4-for-4 at the stripe.
• Six Beacons had multiple assists, while Valpo limited the turnovers to 10 or fewer for the sixth straight game.
• Valpo's 11 made 3s marked a season high as did the squad's percentage of 45.8 from deep.
• The Beacons have blocked 18 shots in their last two games including eight rejections on Saturday. Hopoi turned away four shots, a season high and his fourth game with multiple blocks.
• Valpo went 23-of-26 (88.5 percent) at the free-throw line, setting season highs for both makes and percentage.
• Valpo had nine steals on Western Michigan's 16 turnovers, owning a 20-4 edge in points off turnovers.
• Valpo won the rebounding battle 37-29 and had 13 offensive rebounds leading to 16 second-chance points.
• Valpo extended its head-to-head winning streak against Western Michigan to five.
• The Beacons improved to 5-2, which marks the team's best record through seven games since beginning the 2017-18 season with an 8-0 mark.
• Valpo improved to 4-1 at home on the season.

Postgame Press Conference
Click here for postgame press conference.
 
Up Next
Valpo (5-2) will hit the road to face Marquette on Tuesday night in Milwaukee. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.