March 6, 2004

Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Ed McCants scored 20 points while knocking in six three-point shots and Dylan Page added 18 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee advanced to the championship game of the Horizon League Tournament with a 58-50 win over Detroit Saturday in the first semifinal at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Panthers (19-9) will either host UIC or play at Butler Tuesday night at 8 p.m. CST in the championship game. Those two teams are playing in the second semifinal.

UWM trailed 39-38 with 11:15 remaining in the game on a Rulon Harris basket. But the Panthers scored the next nine points of the game to grab a 47-39 lead and then hung on down the stretch by making 8-of-10 free throws in the final 83 seconds.

The Panthers, the regular season champions of the Horizon League and top seed in the tournament, are now in the final for the second-straight year.

Ryvon Covile scored 13 points to lead Detroit (19-11), which shot just 35.3 percent from the field.

"Last year was nice, but it was the first time and the question was would it be the last time," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "We've got so many great schools with so much great tradition and history in this league and Milwaukee is not a part of that history. We want to try to be consistently competitive for a championship in this conference."

The game was close throughout, with UWM building no more than a six-point lead in the first half before the Titans rallied to within 27-25 at the break.

Detroit led 34-30 following a Covile dunk with 16:35 remaining but could not weather the final Panther run. A Chris Hill jumper gave UWM the lead for good at 40-39 and a three by Hill pushed the edge to 50-41 with 4:02 left. The Titans did rally within four at 50-46 with 1:57 left on a Jimmy Twyman three, but the Panthers made their free throws down the stretch to secure their third Horizon League Tournament victory in four tries under Pearl.

McCants was the story of the first half for the Panthers, making five three-point shots while scoring 15 points. Detroit guarded him more tightly in the second half, opening opportunities inside for the Panthers.

"Ed carried us offensively," Pearl said. "I think what you saw from Ed are things that we saw starting to form at the end of the season. Yes, he's a tremendous three-point shooter, but he had defensive plays that won us the basketball game."

If UIC does beat Butler in the second semifinal, ticket information and other pertinent game materials will be posted immediately at uwmpanthers.com