Dec. 8, 1999

Box Score

AMES, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men?s basketball team fell tonight to a tough Iowa State team, 78-64, in Ames, Iowa. The Panthers drop to 4-3 overall, while the Cyclones improve their record to 6-2.

The Panthers put up a solid first-half performance, keeping the score within a few points and leading at times by as many as three points. But tied at 25 with three minutes left in the first half, the Cyclones went on an eight-point run and went into the locker room with an eight-point lead on the Panthers. The Cyclones added to that run in the second half, adding another seven points, upping their lead to 15-a lead they maintained for most of the second half.

?The last seven minutes in the first half is what hurt us,? said UWM head coach Bo Ryan. ?(ISU) had 1.2 points per possession, and we had 0.3 points per possession. Don?t get me wrong, we gave the effort in the second half. It ended up a seven-possession game.?

Junior Chad Angeli (C, Wausau, Wis.) and freshman Clay Tucker (F, Lima, Ohio) led the Panthers with 20 points apiece. Angeli added a team-high 8 rebounds and 6 assists, while Tucker added 5 rebounds, an assist and a block. The Cyclones turned in a balanced offensive performance with five Cyclones (Martin Rancik, Kantrail Horton, Jamaal Tinsley, Michael Nurse and Stevie Johnson) scoring in double-figures, marking the fifth consecutive contest in which four or more Cyclones have scored in double digits.

As a team, the Panthers shot 36.8 percent from the field and 30 percent from behind the three-point arc. On defense, the Panthers effectively shut down the Cyclones? three-point shooting, limiting them to only one three-pointer in six attempts, which is the fewest threes the Cyclones have recorded since November 1998 when they went 1-7 against St. Mary?s. The Panthers also kept Marcus Fizer, who has been averaging 21.9 ppg for the Cyclones, to only eight points tonight-his lowest offensive output since last season and the first time that he hasn?t reached double figures since last year?s Big 12 opener against Oklahoma.

?Fizer is a good player,? said Angeli. ?Getting ready for the game, there was a lot of stuff on T.V. and around the school on Fizer. People asked me how I was going to match up with Fizer. I feed off this kind of stuff. It gets me pumped up and I like the challenge.?

The Panthers return home Saturday to take on Fairleigh Dickinson at 7 p.m. in the Klotsche Center.