March 5, 2000

Box Score

CHICAGO - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee ended its MCC Tournament run, falling on Sunday to the top-seeded Butler Bulldogs, 65-51, in the tournament semifinals at the UIC Pavilion. The Panthers end their first season under head coach Bo Ryan with a 15-14 overall record, its best since the 1992-93 season and nearly double the wins from last season (8-18). The Bulldogs advance to the tournament finals on Tuesday and will face the winner of the UIC-Detroit match-up.

After getting in early foul trouble, junior Chad Angeli sat out most of the first half and scored only 12 points total, which led the team. Junior Mike Sowder stepped up in Angeli's place during the first half, going 4-for4 from the field and 1-for-1 from beyond the arc for nine points in 14 minutes. Senior Shaun Fountain had 11 points, three assists and a steal, ending his career as a Panther. Freshman Clay Tucker added five points, hitting his first field goal of the tournmanet late in the second half and his only three-pointer in the second half. Tucker also contributed six rebounds, a pair of assists and a block. The Panthers shot 32.2 percent from the field and only 15.4 percent from the three-point range, significantly lower than their 37.3 percent average coming into the game.

"If the game had been 34 minutes long we would have been O.K.," said Ryan. "We played well for that stretch. The effort was there. They just made it hard to get the looks we like.

"I had some guys make a commitment to me this season and they haven't let me down," continued Ryan. "I'm just so proud of them."

Three Bulldogs scored in the double digits, led by freshman Darnell Archey with 15 points that included three treys. Thomas Jackson was next with 14 points while adding a team-high 7 assists, one block and a steal. Finally, Rylan Hainje added 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Mike Marshall led the team on defense with 11 rebounds while adding 9 points to the tally. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 48.1 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.