MADISON, Wis. - Anyone involved with the Milwaukee men's basketball program knows the numbers when it comes to playing the Wisconsin Badgers.
 
-22 losses in a row.
 
-23 years since the last victory in the series.
 
-A Badger team that had won 91 of their last 94 (.968 winning percentage) contests against unranked non-conference opponents dating back to the 2003-04 campaign.
 
All of the streaks are now over in one brilliant night at the Kohl Center after the Panthers (7-3) claimed a thrilling 68-67 victory over the Badgers (6-4) Wednesday night in Madison.
 
"I don't know where to begin. I guess the first thing is that I am really happy for our seniors – J.J. Panoske, Matt Tiby and J.R. Lyle – we have had some tough nights here in the Kohl Center," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "Pretty similar to that first half, but through it all we kept ourselves within range. That 10-0 run to start the second half gave us a belief that we had a chance to do something special."
 
Jordan Johnson had a team-high 22 points, Matt Tiby added a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds and the team withstood one final shot by UW at the buzzer to claim the huge victory and break the long streak in the all-time series.
 
December 12, 1992 was the date. A 77-72 Milwaukee victory at the Fieldhouse that marked the last in the series and came prior to nearly every player on the current UWM roster being born.
 
"But when it came down to it, it was just some basic plays, some ordinary plays," Jeter said. "But if you want to do something extraordinary, you have to do ordinary – the charge by Tiby, post touches, and we held them nine minutes without a field goal. I am really proud of my guys."
 
Akeem Springs made all four of his free throws in the final 64 seconds but the game was not decided until the final possession with 11.2 on the clock. Following a screen, Brett Prahl not only got a hand in Bronson Koenig's face on his final attempt, but followed the missed shot and grabbed the rebound as the horn sounded.
 
Johnson added four assists and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line, pacing a strong team effort from the charity stripe on a night that UWM connected on 22-of-27 overall.
 
"He (Johnson) was fabulous tonight," Jeter said. "He might be 5-foot-9, but tonight he played like he was seven feet. He really attacked the rim in the land of giants and really made some plays for us. I can't say enough about him. Here's a young man that just a few months ago was playing junior college basketball and tonight he's in the Kohl Center playing against a team that was in the national title game. And he didn't seem phased by it."
 
Springs finished with eight points and five boards and J.R. Lyle had nine points, sinking 3-of-4 attempts.
 
Nigel Hayes paced the Badgers with a career-high 32 points to lead the home team. Ethan Happ posted a double-double of 10 points and 15 boards.
 
It was a stingy defense that really helped out the Panthers, limiting the Badgers to less than 30 percent shooting in the second half and 36.4 percent (20-of-55) overall.
 
A 10-0 run bridging the halftime horn turned a 40-26 deficit into a 40-36 scoreline on a three-pointer by Cody Wichmann and the game was on the rest of the way.
 
Eight UW points in a row stemmed the tide, but Milwaukee clawed right back and had a pair of chances to take the lead at 51-49, only to come up short on three-pointers each time.
 
The Panthers held their opponents without a made field goal from the 14:49 mark when they trailed by 12 until the 4:34 mark when Hayes layup made it 60-55. Included in that stretch was eight points in a row by Milwaukee, five of which were scored by Lyle.
 
An Arians three – his first of the game – came at a huge moment to make it 60-58 and a pair of Tiby free throws made it a new game at 60-60 with 3:07 to play.
 
Johnson's layup gave the Panthers the lead and his floater in the lane following two UW free throws pushed it back to two again at 64-62.
 
Hayes, who at one point down the stretch scored 10 points in a row for his team, went back to the line and made it 64-64 with two makes and 1:08 on the clock.
 
Tiby drew a key charge with 57.3 seconds left, Springs scored the final four points from the line and the defense held on for the thrilling upset.
 
Up next, the Panthers will get the chance to enjoy the victory and are off until Sunday, returning to campus for a noon matinee against Judson at the Klotsche Center.