Box Score The final score did not indicate just how close Monmouth came to upending No. 8 UW-Platteville in the Scots' return to the NCAA Tournament Friday night ending with a 91-76 loss.
 
After spotting the Pioneers a 10-point first half lead, the Scots came storming back, taking the lead 43-42 on a Justin Aluya bucket-and-one just two minutes into the second half. Monmouth stretched the lead to 48-42 on Aluya' 3-pointer a minute later, but the Pioneers slowly came back, regaining the lead 55-53 on a pair of free throws with 12:21 to play.
 
 Nursing a 69-65 lead with 6:00 left in the game, Platteville scored nine unanswered points to open the gap at 78-65 with 3:26 remaining to move into Saturday's second round against St. Olaf – an 88-75 winner of Sul Ross.
 
Will Jones led the Scots with 24 points to end his career as the third-leading scorer in program history with 1,491 points, just eight points out of second. Another senior – Aluya – closed out with 19 points and 10 rebounds – his 10^th double-double of the season.
 
Ranked fifth in the Midwest Conference preseason coaches' poll, the Scots won the conference title outright and then punched their ticket to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990 with an MWC Tournament title. The Scots tied the program record with 20 wins, a 14 win turnaround from the season before.