Dec. 1, 2001

Box Score

AMES, Iowa - Five players scored in double figures as the UWM men's basketball team buried Nebraska-Omaha, 87-68, Saturday night on the second day of the Tribune Cyclone Challenge.

Adrian Tigert led the way with a double-double, dropping in 15 points and 13 rebounds. Clay Tucker led all scorers with 19. Ronnie Jones had 12, Dylan Page 13 and Jason Frederick chipped in with 10 for Milwaukee. Alvin Mitchell had 15 to lead the Mavericks (5-2).

UNO, winners over San Jose State on the opening night of the Cyclone Challenge, found themselves dominated by the Panthers on the boards. The Panthers held an early 12-3 rebounding edge on the Mavericks, and continued that trend throughout the game. At the half, UWM held a 24-12 rebounding advantage and the Panthers (2-3) wound up with 48 rebounds for the game.

"Our inside guys really stepped up," head coach Bruce Pearl said. "I thought Adrian Tigert, with a double-double, and Dylan Page really stepped up. We made progress tonight."

The Panthers jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first four minutes, with Tucker scoring seven of those points. The Panthers played stiff defense in the opening few minutes, as Ronnie Jones came up with a key block that led to a lay-up by Dylan Page, forcing UNO to take an early timeout.

The Panthers parlayed that rebounding edge and some excellent shooting into a large first half lead. The lead was as high as 11 with four minutes to go following a pair of free throws by Adrian Tigert. A pair of three pointers by Tucker to end the half gave UWM a 49-31 lead at the break.

For the half, Milwaukee shot 56 percent from the floor, while holding the Mavericks to just 29 percent shooting. The Panthers shot nearly as well from beyond the arc, shooting a 55 percent clip. Even the free throws were falling for the Panthers, as UWM shot 87 percent from the line.

"We got great contributions off our bench," Pearl said. "The fact that we played ten players really helped us in the second half."

Alvin Mitchell nearly brought the Mavericks back into the game almost single-handedly. Mitchell hit three consecutive shots, including a pair of threes, to cut the lead down to ten. But Ronnie Jones would answer for UWM, hitting three shots of his own, including a three pointer, to push the Panther margin back up to 18 at 66-48. Milwaukee led by as many as 25 in the second half, before reaching the final margin of 19.

UWM returns to action when they entertain Chicago State at the Klotsche Center on Tues., Dec. 4. Game time is 7 p.m.

"We're looking forward to getting back to the Klotsche Center," Pearl said. "We're excited about playing Tuesday night and seeing if we can't even this record up."