Nov. 29, 2003

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Darren Brooks scored 26 points to lead Southern Illinois to an 81-77 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Dylan Page tossed in 24 points and had 12 rebounds to lead the Panthers, who trailed most of the night and could not overcome a shortened backcourt rotation.

Adrian Tigert added 14 points while Joah Tucker and Ed McCants scored 13 points apiece for UWM (2-1), which saw its 17-game home winning streak snapped.

Brad Korn added 15 points and LaMar Owen tossed in 11 off the bench to lead SIU (3-0), which has been to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons.

"The strong always beat the weak and the smart always beat the strong, but the quick beat everyone," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "They were quicker than us.

"There were times where we ran effectively and other times we forced it and turned it over. We just rushed a little too much. We have so much to learn."

The Panthers were without senior Kalombo Kadima, sidelined by a groin injury, and played the first half without Ricardo Freeman, sidelined after arriving late for a practice this week. That sent walk-on freshman Joe Czechowicz into the lineup for three minutes in the first half and kept the UWM rotation thin in the backcourt throughout the game.

"Our starting five was positive (on the plus-minus chart) for the game, which is hard to do when you lose," Pearl said. "We just need to develop more depth. But we have a lot of new guys. I have no doubt this team will get a lot better as the season moves along."

The Panthers led by as many as six early in the first half but fell down 45-33 with 1:12 remaining in the first 20 minutes. The Salukies halftime edge was 10 but UWM struck back, pulling within two at 54-52 on a dunk by McCants with 14:59 remaining in the game.

UWM pulled within two on one more occasion, closing the gap to 60-58 on a jumper by Tigert with 10:58 left. SIU then scored eight of the next nine points to rebuild a 69-59 advantage with 8:22 remaining and UWM could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.

UWM opens a four-game road trip Wednesday at Prairie View A&M.