Jan. 2, 2002

Box Score

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Ronnie Jones set a school record by making 10 three-point shots as UWM claimed an easy 77-55 win over Youngstown State in the Horizon League opener for both teams.

Jones scored a career-high 33 points as UWM (6-7, 1-0 Horizon League) led by as many as 33 points en route to their first league-opening win since the 1995-96 season. The 22-point margin of victory is also the largest UWM has ever recorded on the road in league play. The Panthers will try to move to 2-0 in league play for the first time in school history Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center against UW-Green Bay.

UWM led 26-16 with 6:33 remaining in the first half before a 25-8 run that lasted early into the second half turned the game into a rout.

"I was just very focused tonight," Jones said of his record-setting effort. "We wanted to come out and make a statement to the rest of the league. They left me open a lot and the point guards did a great job of finding me."

"He's a dangerous weapon, " UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said of Jones. "We were really ready to play tonight. The first half was one of our better halves of basketball. I think our difficult non-conference schedule had something to do with that."

The Panthers had built a 26-10 advantage, but a dry spell of four minutes by UWM allowed Youngstown State to pull within 26-16. The Panthers again exploded to take control of the game. UWM scored eight straight points in the next two minutes to build a 34-16 edge. After Youngstown State broke a four-minute dry spell of its own to cut the lead to 34-18, Jones hit his fourth three-point shot of the half to give the Panthers a 37-18 lead with 2:23 left in the half. Jones then hit two more threes in the final two minutes of the half, giving UWM a 43-22 lead at the halftime break. The Panthers then scored eight of the first 10 points of the half to clinch their first road win of the season.

"I thought the tempo played a role in the first half and it didn't let them back in the game in the second half," Pearl said.

Clay Tucker added 11 points and Justin Lettenberger pitched in with 10 for UWM.

UWM shot 57 percent in the first half and made 10-of-16 three-point shots. Jones made all seven of his field goal attempts in the half, including a perfect 6-of-6 from three-point range.

The Panthers used an 8-0 run midway through the first half to originally take some control of the game. UWM led 18-10 with just under 13 minutes remaining before Justin Lettenberger knocked in a free throw and jumper followed by a three from Jones and another jumper by Lettenberger to make it 26-10 with 10:20 remaining.

UWM got off to a good start offensively, jumping to an 8-0 advantage two minutes in. The Panthers still led 13-6 six minutes into the contest behind eight points from Tucker and five points from Jones.

The Panthers return to action Saturday afternoon, hosting in-state rival UW-Green Bay at the Klotsche Center. The game tips off at 4 p.m. and will be televised on WMLW-TV 41.