Jan. 11, 2006

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MILWAUKEE - Joah Tucker scored 20 points and Boo Davis added 17 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee hung on for a 78-75 win over Loyola University Chicago Wednesday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Loyola's J.R. Blount missed a short jumper with three seconds remaining that would have tied the game and Milwaukee's Chris Hill then made a single free throw to account for the final margin.

The Panthers (12-3, 5-0 Horizon) won for the eighth-straight time overall and for the 17th-straight time on their homecourt. But, Milwaukee had to hang on despite leading by 14 points early in the second half and by 10 points with 3:58 left.

The Ramblers (9-6, 1-4), one of the popular preseason picks to challenge the two-time defending league champion Panthers, shot 60.6 percent in the second half to nearly complete the comeback. Blake Schilb led Loyola with 24 points while Blount added 18.

"I have to give a lot of credit to Loyola. They played hard and played us tough," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "Their backs were against the wall to get themselves turned around and tonight would have been a great way to do that. We found a way to prevent that."

An Allan Hanson three-pointer made it 69-59 Panthers with 3:58 left before the Ramblers' rally started. Five-straight points by Schilb made 70-65 with 2:58 remaining and back-to-back layins by Blount pulled the Ramblers to within 73-72 with 1:13 left. Davis hit three free throws for the Panthers to rebuild the lead to 76-72 with 31 seconds remaining before Tracy Robinson responded with a three to trim the lead to 76-75 with just 16 seconds left.

Hill then hit a single free throw to make it 77-75 before Blount missed his shot in the lane. Hill's final free throw came with 1.8 seconds left and a 75-footer by Robinson was well off at the final horn.

The Panthers built a 12-point halftime lead despite shooting just 35.7 percent from the field. The difference came from beyond the arc, where Milwaukee converted on 6-of-11.

Loyola led 11-9 after a layin by Leon Young but the Panthers proceeded to run off seven-straight points for a 16-11 lead. The Ramblers did pull back within three on two occasions and were still within five at 24-19 on a Schilb layin with 4:17 remaining.

It was all Milwaukee in the rest of the first half, though. UWM rolled off eight-straight points, highlighted by five points from Tucker, to build a 32-19 lead with 2:15 left. The Ramblers did score four-straight to pull back within 32-23, but a Davis three with nine seconds left made it 35-23 Panthers at the half.

UWM, though, could never quite put Loyola away in the second half and, by the end, the Panthers found themselves in deep danger of suffering their first league loss of the season. Still, Milwaukee found a way to win.

"We just played for 40 minutes. We just had to keep finding guys in there for 40 minutes that would keep doing positive things for the team," Jeter said. "We came up with enough positive things to pull out a victory."

The Panthers return to action Saturday afternoon, making the short trip north for a nationally-televised contest. The game tips off at 3 p.m. CST and can be seen on ESPN2.