Feb. 15, 2003

Box Score

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee outscored Youngstown State 22-11 over the first five minutes of the second half to take control of the game en route to an 86-61 win at Youngstown State Saturday night.

UWM (21-5, 12-2) led 36-31 at halftime but turned the game into a rout when a Dylan Page basket with 14:52 remaining gave the Panthers a 58-41 advantage. UWM then led by as many as 27 points while remaining alone in first place in the Horizon League.

The win also allowed UWM to clinch no worse than the second seed in the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship, which will be played at the U.S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee. The second seed will give the Panthers a bye into the semifinal round of the championship, meaning they will play Saturday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Page scored 27 points and Clay Tucker added 25 to lead the Panthers, who won for the eighth-straight time and recorded their largest margin of victory ever in a Horizon League road contest.

Adam Baumann scored 17 points while Doug Underwood added 16 for Youngstown State (8-15, 4-8), which lost for the third-straight time.

"When you're playing well, your best players consistently do what they are capable of doing," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "Dylan and Clay were dominant tonight."

Playing for the fifth time in 10 days, the Panthers showed few signs of wear and tear as the game progressed. No one played more than 30 minutes and nine players played at least 15 minutes as UWM controlled the game from the outset and then outscored Youngstown State, 50-30, in the second half.

"We started the game knowing the four guys off the bench would play significant minutes," Pearl said. "The biggest thing was we got 13 rebounds from our bench."

UWM never trailed in the game, building a 21-12 lead with 10:30 remaining in the first half on a Page layin. The Penguins closed back to within three at 22-19 but would never get any closer the rest of the way. A Baumann follow-up basket at the end of the first half did bring the Penguins back within five at 36-31, but YSU was never in the contest again as UWM scored five points in the first 20 seconds of the second half.

After the lead hit 58-41 on the Page basket five minutes into the second half, the Penguins never got any closer than 15 points. A three-point play by Page made it 69-48 with 9:34 to play and another Page three-point play made it 79-56 with 5:27 left. The Panthers eventually led 86-59 as Pearl emptied the bench.

Ronnie Jones added 14 for the Panthers, who won their seventh road game of the year - the most since the 1992-93 season. The eight-game winning streak for UWM is their second eight-game streak this season, equaling the best streak since that same 1992-93 campaign.

UWM's defense was stellar throughout the night, limiting the Penguins to just 37 percent shooting while forcing 17 turnovers and collecting 10 steals.

"They shot just 32 percent in the second half. We really put the clamps on them," Pearl said. "Jason Frederick played great defense on their best player."

UWM does not return to league play until a Feb. 27 contest at Wright State and still has a March 1 date at Butler. But, the Panthers now have a week off in preparation for their Feb. 22 Bracket Buster Saturday contest at Southern Illinois on ESPN2.

"There aren't many Division I teams in the country with 21 wins," Pearl said. "I'm proud Milwaukee is among that company. But it doesn't get any easier from here. All three of our remaining games are on the road and two of them are against some of the top mid-major teams in the country."