Nov. 16, 1999
MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men?s basketball team earned its first win under head coach Bo Ryan tonight with a 100-74 win over the WBO Stars in the team?s final exhibition game of the preseason. The Panthers end the preseason 1-1 after dropping its first exhibition game, 86-75, to Marathon Oil on Friday night.
After trailing the Stars by as much as six points with 6:55 left in the first half, the Panthers took control of the game to lead the stars by nine points at the half. The Panthers continued to control the game in the second half, finally topping the Stars by 26 points at the buzzer.
Freshman Clay Tucker (F, Lima, Ohio) led the Panthers with 22 points and 7 rebounds, going 3-5 from three-point range and knocking down 8-14 shots from the field.
?The momentum we had at the end of the first half carried over into the second half,? said Tucker. ?In the second half, we really got into the flow. Everything seemed to click.?
Junior Chad Angeli (C, Wausau, Wis.) went 6-6 from the field and 7-12 from the free-throw line, adding 19 points and a team-leading 9 rebounds. Senior Shaun Fountain (G, Columbus, Ohio) hit double-digit scoring as well, with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and a pair of steals.
Freshman Jason Frederick (G, Waukesha, Wis.) put on a solid performance tonight with 11 points, going 4-7 from the field.
?It felt good tonight and I got into a rhythm early,? said Frederick. ?The whole team did a great job on defense.?
As a team, the Panthers improved their first-half three-point shooting from .182 to .667 in the second half, while shooting .561 overall throughout the night ? a significant increase over the team?s .356 shooting against Marathon Oil on Friday.
?If the guys continue to work the way that they are, they?ll be fine,? said Ryan. ?Our team has a chance to compete if they are consistent. We have a young team and consistency usually comes with maturity.?
The team begins its regular season on the road at Central Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. EST, before returning to Milwaukee for its home-opener on Nov. 23 against Wisconsin-Madison at 7 p.m. CST in the Klotsche Center. Both games will be broadcast live on WEMP 1250-AM. In addition, games will be broadcast live throughout the world via the internet at the Panthers? website, www.uwmpanthers.com.
