Milwaukee Athletics

MILWAUKEE - Five different players scored in double-figures to lead the Milwaukee men's basketball team to an 88-58 victory over MSOE in the season opener Friday evening at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"It was an exciting day, the first official game for us together," Milwaukee head coach LaVall Jordan said. "So, for everybody in the community, the campus, I know in our locker room – there was an excitement. It was fun. I loved Panther Arena, I loved the support that we got, the crowd we got. The new floor is beautiful and we got to see all the new changes."
 
The Panthers (1-0) led the Raiders by 12 points at intermission and continued to pull away in the second half, getting Jordan a victory in his first game as new head coach at UWM.
 
"It was a fun day for us to be out, be together and execute against someone else in front of our fans," Jordan said. "That was exciting."
 
Brock Stull and Cody Wichmann led the way with 13 points, while Stull added a career-best 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
 
Cameron Harvey made 5-of-7 shots from the floor to finish with 11, with Jeremy Johnson (11 points/5 rebounds) and Jeremiah Bell (10 points) rounding out the list in double-figures.
 
Collin Seubert paced the visiting Raiders with a game-high 15 points.
 
The Milwaukee defense played well, holding MSOE to 32.0 percent (16-of-50) shooting from the floor overall and 21 percent from three-point range. They dominated their counterparts on the boards at 48-to-28, while also posting a commanding 46-22 advantage in points in the paint.
 
"I was proud of our defensive effort," Jordan said. "Outside of putting them on the foul line too much, I thought defensively we were really locked into the game plan. Coach Lowery really did a great job preparing us and our guys were really focused in terms of what we needed to do defensively. We have been putting a lot of time into our defense, so it was good to see us execute on that end of the floor."
 
In addition to the five who notched double-figures, August Haas chipped in an all-around effort of seven points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Bryce Nze came off the bench to contribute eight points, five rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
All 15 players that suited up played in the game (Zac Saddler missed due to injury), with 10 finding their way into the scoring column.
 
The team closed well, shooting 54.8 percent in the second half to pull away with a 45-27 advantage after intermission. For the game, the Panthers connected on 54 percent (34-of-63) of their tries from the field, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 18-to-11.
 
Up next, the team hits the road quickly, traveling to Tennessee for a midweek affair with Memphis Wednesday. Kickoff against the Tigers is set for 7 p.m.