Jan. 12, 2002

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - UWM outscored Illinois-Chicago 38-11 in the second half en route to a convincing 75-49 victory Saturday night at the Klotsche Center.

With the win, the Panthers (8-8, 3-1 Horizon) claimed sole possession of second place in the Horizon League. UIC dropped to 2-2 in the league, 10-7 overall.

The Panthers trailed 34-23 with 4:23 remaining in the first half before turning the game around in dramatic fashion. UWM outscored UIC 14-4 over the final four-plus minutes of the half to pull within 38-37 at the break. Then, the Panthers used a 13-0 run to turn a 45-44 advantage into a 58-44 lead and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

"Looking at 3-1 in the Horizon League - that looks real good," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "The kids deserve it. I was really proud of the kids. We almost took a knockout punch at the beginning of the game. We honored the game tonight. We played the game really well."

Clay Tucker scored 20 points to lead the Panthers, who are 3-1 in league play for the first time in the school's Division I history. Four other Panthers were also in double figures, led by Jason Frederick's 14 points off the bench and Justin Lettenberger's 12 points and nine rebounds in the same role.

"We'd be in trouble without Justin Lettenberger," Pearl said of the junior walk-on who has received increased playing time following the season-ending injury to James Wright two weeks ago.

The Panthers turned the tide of the game late in the first half thanks to their pressure defense, which forced 19 UIC turnovers. The pressure defense and transition offense also led to six layups and three more field goals from inside the paint in the second half.

"'Taking its toll' is a really good way of putting what we try to do to people," Pearl said. "It really did appear they started to tire."

UIC coach Jimmy Collins concurred.

"They just really outworked us," Collins said. "They turned it up late in the first half. We lost our rhythm and they found theirs. From the end of the first half to the end of the game, they controlled things."

After playing three of their first four league games at home, UWM now heads to the road for games at Wright State and Butler this coming weekend, making Saturday's win an important one.

"It was an important game to hold serve at home," Pearl said. "It was an important game to be in second place. It was an important game to bounce back from our first loss."

UWM's upcoming road trip begins at Wright State Thursday night. The game begins at 6 p.m. and will be televised on WMLW-TV 41 in Milwaukee.