Jan. 10, 2004

Box Score

CHICAGO - Dylan Page scored a career-high 35 points and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee withstood numerous surges by Loyola to claim a 97-87 win Saturday afternoon at the Gentile Center.

The Panthers (9-5, 4-0 Horizon) used a late 16-6 run to hold off the final rally by the Ramblers (6-7, 2-2), who had overcome a 17-point first half deficit.

Ed McCants added 20 points while Joah Tucker contributed 13 and Kalombo Kadima 10 for the Panthers, who are 4-0 in league play for the first time in school history. UWM shot a season-high 60.4 percent from the field and scored 97 points, the second-highest total by an opponent in Gentile Center history.

Paul McMillan scored 24 points to lead Loyola, which shot just 42.6 percent from the field and 17.4 percent from three-point range.

But Loyola couldn't stop Page, who beat the career-high of 32 he established against Loyola last year. The senior made 10-of-14 field goals and 11-of-15 free throws while hitting crucial shots every time the Ramblers pulled close.

"You know what he is, he's a mid-major version of Keith Van Horn," Loyola head coach Larry Farmer said."

UWM coach Bruce Pearl, who has led the Panthers to the best record in the Horizon League over the last two-plus seasons, was also impressed with Page.

"He really hit a shot every time we needed one," Pearl said of Page, whose three with 6:53 left gave UWM a 76-71 advantage, a deficit the Ramblers would never overcome. "Those threes were definitely by design. It is easier to get a big man shots on the perimeter because the guys guarding them usually aren't used to defending out there."

The Panthers appeared to have the game in hand in the first half, building a 41-24 lead. But, thanks in large part to a 15-7 disparity in fouls and 13 Loyola free throws, the Ramblers rallied to within 48-42 by the break.

Loyola tied the game at 52 and, after UWM scored seven of the next nine points to reestablish a lead, the Ramblers again rallied to within two at 73-71. But Page's three started the final run for the Panthers, who were spurred on by an energetic group of nearly 250 UWM fans in Chicago.

UWM returns to action Thursday night, hosting Youngstown State at the Klotsche Center in a 7 p.m. contest.