Nov. 21, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Boo Davis had 21 points and Adrian Tigert added 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead a balanced attack as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 93-64 win over Upper Iowa Monday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Avery Smith and Joah Tucker added 11 points apiece off the bench for Milwaukee (1-1), which scored 59 points in the first half and then led by as many as 35 points in the second half before emptying the bench.

Fourteen different players scored for the Panthers and no player played more than 22 minutes.

Eric Ritter led Upper Iowa (1-3) with 14 points.

"I thought what we did was make sure we did the things we wanted to do by attacking, by taking care of the basketball in the first half, by being aggressive toward the rim," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "We shoot 21 free throws and only turn the ball over four times in that first half. I thought that was what we wanted to do because it could have easily turned into a game where we were throwing it around the gym and not sticking to our fundamentals."

Upper Iowa started the game on fire offensively, hitting its first five shots in building a 14-9 lead with 14:55 to play. But the Panthers dominated the game from there. Milwaukee took the lead for good at 19-16 on a Davis three with 12:52 remaining and pushed the lead to double digits at 28-18 on another Davis three with 10:04 left.

A tip-in basket by Nick Hansen made it 43-28 and the lead went above 20 points for the first time at 52-31 on a Davis alley-oop dunk from Tucker. A pair of Tigert free throws made it 56-31 with 1:52 remaining and a free throw and jumper by Chris Hill rounded out the first half scoring for the Panthers.

If there was any doubt remaining in the outcome, the Panthers then eliminated that by holding Upper Iowa scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half in building a 65-34 lead. UWM then led by as many as 35 points in the game.

UWM returns to action in one week, playing at Tennessee Tech Monday night. The Golden Eagles won the Ohio Valley Conference last season and beat Oregon State, 90-62, in their home opener Sunday afternoon.