MARION, Ind. – Three Wildcats scored 20 or more points as the newly minted No. 1 team in the nation dispatched No. 6 Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 92-71 on Tuesday night in Luckey Arena. Indiana Wesleyan held Mount Vernon Nazarene to just 28-percent shooting in the second half to turn a three point halftime lead into a 21-point blowout.

SMITH CONTINUES TO ROLL

Grant Smith tied a career-high and had a new season-best with 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He also added seven boards and eight assists in 28 minutes of action.

PAINT WORK

Indiana Wesleyan played big in the lane and outscored Mount Vernon Nazarene 42-16 in the paint. IWU also earned a 38-27 advantage in rebounds. Five different Wildcats pulled down at least four boards.

BACK ON TOP

Indiana Wesleyan has won nine straight games, which matches the longest win streak since the team won the final nine games of the 2017-18 season en route to the national championship. The win streak has moved IWU back to No. 1 in the NAIA Top-25 Poll.

96 HOURS

IWU has won two games in the last four days over teams that were third place in the Crossroads League and just one game behind IWU in the standings. With the two wins, Indiana Wesleyan remains one game behind league leader Spring Arbor (Mich.) while Marian, Bethel, and Mount Vernon Nazarene are all two games behind IWU in the loss column.

TONAGEL THOUGHTS

“Grant Smith is a special player. He got out there and felt confident. He really gave us some spark. People here have only seen glimpses of what he can do. His potential, and where he can go, there’s just more there.”

“Here is the underrated part on Kyle Mangas. We switched Kyle onto Jevon Knox after Knox went off and Kyle did a really nice job on him. He held Vipperman to zero points in the first half. Zero. Vipperman is a very good player, an All-League player. Then we threw Kyle onto Knox. I just can’t say enough about Kyle.”

NEXT TIME OUT

Indiana Wesleyan travels to No. 14 Bethel (Ind.) on Saturday for another top-25 showdown. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Mishawaka.