MENOMONIE, Wis. — Justin Nelson delivered the best scoring performance of his Blue Devil career, but UW-Stout came up short on Tuesday night, falling 79–70 to UW-Superior at Johnson Fieldhouse.
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Nelson, the Blue Devils' starting center, set the tone early by drilling two three-pointers in the first three minutes, igniting the Stout offense and the home crowd. He finished with a career-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
The first half featured 10 lead changes, with Stout hitting seven threes to keep pace. But Superior used a strong push early in the second half to build a double-digit lead that Stout worked to claw back.
One of the biggest hurdles for the Blue Devils came at the foul line. Stout struggled from the free throw stripe, finishing just 8-of-17, which made it difficult to complete their comeback despite multiple late runs.
Tyrel Creger added 16 points and four assists, while AJ Uttech chipped in seven off the bench. Wesley Mboga, Mason Stoik, and Aidan Shore each contributed six points.
By the Numbers
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23 — Career-high points for Justin Nelson
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10 — Made three-pointers for the Blue Devils
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7 — First-half made threes for Stout
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22 — Bench points for UW-Stout
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5 — First-half blocks for Stout, including two early from Nelson
Up Next
The Blue Devils return to Johnson Fieldhouse on Friday at 7 p.m., hosting Augsburg University.
