Dec. 27, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Adrian Tigert scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed an impressive 84-69 win over the University of Wyoming Tuesday night at the Arena-Auditorium.

The Panthers (7-3) trailed 35-28 at halftime before outscoring the Cowboys 56-34 in the second half.

Joah Tucker added 19 points and Boo Davis 11 while Chris Hill and Avery Smith pitched in 10 apiece for Milwaukee, which has won six of its last seven games.

Brad Jones scored 16 points off the bench to lead Wyoming (6-5), which lost a non-conference game at home for just the eighth time in eight years under Steve McClain.

The game turned as Milwaukee turned up its defensive pressure and started to get the ball in the post offensively. After the Cowboys shot 53.6 percent in the first half, they shot just 34.5 in the second half. Meanwhile, UWM shot just 40.6 percent in the first half but shot 58.6 in the second 20 minutes.

"I give our guys a lot of credit. They stuck to attacking the basket," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "We needed to stay aggressive. We were a little tentative against Justin Williams (the nation's leading shot blocker) because he is such a great shot blocker, but we kept attacking and started to get a lot of inside points."

Tigert, playing against a tall front line led by Williams, also added 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. As a team, Milwaukee outrebounded Wyoming, 40-30, and limited the Cowboys to just six offensive boards.

"To play 35 minutes and produce those kind of numbers coming off of the Christmas break and in that kind of game is pretty special," Jeter said. "We just have to keep him on the floor because he does so many special things."

The Panthers' decisive second-half burst started after a Brandon Ewing lay-in gave the Cowboys a 42-34 lead with 14:42 remaining in the game. Milwaukee scored 10 of the next 12 points to tie the game and then, after Wyoming regained a 46-44 lead, the Panthers scored 11-straight to claim a 55-46 advantage with 9:12 left.

The lead grew to 12 at 62-50 with 6:26 left before the Cowboys cut the lead to five at 64-59 with 5:09 remaining. But, a pair of free throws from Tucker and a three-pointer by Hill with the shot clock running down restored a 10-point lead with under four minutes left and the Panthers controlled the game from there.

The second half burst came after the Panthers let a first-half lead slip away. Milwaukee looked to be in good shape after the first nine minutes of the game, using a 16-2 run to take an 18-10 lead with 11:12 remaining in the half. The lead was still 24-19 after a Smith basket with 6:31 remaining, but the Cowboys took over from there.

In fact, Wyoming scored nine-straight points to build a 28-24 lead with 3:33 left before eventually building its edge to 35-26 on a three-point play by Ewing with 1:12 remaining. A Tucker basket pulled with the Panthers back within 35-28 and UWM then got a defensive stop to trail by just seven at the break.

The Panthers, though, responded in the second half, staying close to the Cowboys for the first five minutes of the half before exploding for 50 points in the final 15 minutes of the game.

The Panthers continue their difficult western road swing Friday night at Montana. The Grizzlies have won 10-straight games since a season-opening loss at Boise State. The contest tips off at 8 p.m. CST and can be heard on WOKY, AM 920.