Nov. 9, 2007

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Tim Flowers scored 18 points and Torre Johnson tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee opened the 2007-08 regular season with a 78-53 win over Upper Iowa Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Panthers (1-0) opened up a 28-12 lead midway through the first half and were never threatened. Twelve of the 14 players that appeared in the game scored, and no starter played more than 23 minutes.

Anthony Hill added 10 points off the bench for Milwaukee, which shot 56 percent in the second half and used a strong pressure defense to collect 20 steals.

A.J. Adkins scored 11 points to lead Upper Iowa (0-1).

"We got a chance to play a lot of bodies and I thought all of the guys played hard for us," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "I thought the effort was there but the execution wasn't quite where we want it to be."

The first half was highlighted by a spectacular one-handed follow-up dunk by Johnson, who collected his double-double despite playing just 20 minutes. He had 12 points and nine rebounds by halftime as the Panthers led by as many as 19 points in the first 20 minutes.

UWM's main second-half burst included four steals along with three-point baskets by Hill and Ricky Franklin as the Panthers turned a 16-point lead into a 61-32 advantage with 11:16 remaining. Most of the starters never returned to the floor after that, with 11 Panthers playing double-figure minutes.

"I think I have a good understanding of who is going to be able to play, but it is a matter of finding those guys some minutes and some quality time," Jeter said. "You understand that as we get further along this season we are going to have to tighten up the rotation a little bit. A 12-man rotation ... I don't know that there are many teams in the country that can do it."

Milwaukee returns to action Wednesday night, hitting the road for a 6 p.m. contest at Ball State. The game will be televised live in Milwaukee on Time Warner Sports (Channel 32).