Box Score Nov. 27, 2007
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MILWAUKEE -
Paige Paulsen and Torre Johnson each tallied double-doubles and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee overcame an 11-point deficit to lead in the second half before falling to Sam Houston State 81-77 Tuesday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.
In fact, Milwaukee (3-3) was down 18-7 in the first eight minutes of the game before claiming a 51-46 lead with 11 minutes to play. But, the Bearkats (5-0) reclaimed the lead for good with 6:34 left and then hung on in the closing moments.
Paulsen's double-double included 25 points and 10 rebounds while Johnson tallied 17 points and 11 boards.
Reggie Rawlins scored 19 points off the bench to lead Sam Houston, which is the favorite in the Southland Conference and already owns wins over Texas Tech and Fresno State. Ryan Bright added a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds.
"I thought the effort tonight has us heading in the right direction," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "I thought the effort was there. Turnovers ... I thought we could have done better with turnovers. It's showing a little bit of our youth and some of our inexperience with some of the things that are happening to us. There's nothing we can do about that except, in time, grow up."
The Panthers again found themselves fighting uphill in the first 20 minutes. UWM trailed by as many as 11 points in the early-going before rallying. In fact, after the Panthers scored the first four points of the game, the Bearkats scored 13-straight to seize control. Sam Houston eventually led 18-7 and was still up 33-23 with 2:37 left. But, three-pointers by Paulsen and Allan Hanson along with a jumper by Hanson brought Milwaukee to within 37-31 at the break.
Milwaukee then trailed by eight early in the second half before an 11-2 run gave the Panthers a 42-41 lead. The lead grew to 51-46 on two Johnson free throws with 10:58 remaining and was still 58-54 after a layup by Paulsen with nine minutes left. But, the Bearkats reclaimed 63-62 edge on a James Barrett layin and eventually extended the lead to 75-70 on a three-pointer by Shamir McDaniel with just under two minutes remaining. UWM was able to close back to within two with 26 seconds left but then would get no closer.
While Paulsen was steady throughout the game, Johnson's play sparked the Panthers in the second half. He scored eight-straight points in one span and wound up scoring 11 of UWM's 15 points when the Panthers built a five-point lead.
"I really can't explain it, because I play the whole game the same way," Johnson said of the burst. "I think I got in a few good positions to make it easier to get a scoring opportunity - crashing the glass and some balls were bouncing my way. And, I got to the free throw line and made my free throws."
UWM returns to action Friday night, starting a string of three-straight road games at Marquette. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. at the Bradley Center.