Jan 8, 2004

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Dylan Page scored 23 points and Ed McCants 13 Thursday night to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to a 71-59 Horizon League victory over Butler at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Joah Tucker added 11 points and Nate Mielke 10 for the Panthers (8-5, 3-0), who beat Butler for the fourth time in the last six meetings between the two schools.

UWM is 3-0 in the Horizon League for the second-straight year.

Duane Lightfoot led Butler (4-8, 0-4) with 16 points, while Mike Monserez had 14 and Jeff James 13.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, with UWM holding a 25-20 lead at the break after Butler shot just 20.7 percent from the field. But the Panthers (8-5, 3-0) shot 58.3 percent in the second half and gradually pulled away against a scrappy Butler team.

"We played great defense in the first half. I thought our offense executed much better in the second half," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "We were much smarter and I thought we showed much more purpose offensively.

"I think Nate was a huge lift off the bench. Not only with his scoring and defense, but with his energy level."

After a basket by Lightfoot cut Milwaukee's lead to 29-26, the Panthers outscored the Bulldogs 14-4 to lead 42-30 with 14:01 left. McCants started the run with a basket and ended it with a 3-pointer. UWM then led by as many as 16 points before holding off a late Bulldog rally.

After Lightfoot tied the game at 18-18 with a three-point play with 8:15 left, neither team scored again until Tigert made a basket with 2:02 left.Adrian Tigert hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give Milwaukee a 25-20 lead after both teams struggled to hit shots in the first half.