Nov. 22, 2008

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Jeter Postgame Comments
Smith Postgame Comments

MILWAUKEE - Wesley Matthews and Lazar Hayward scored 25 points apiece as 15th-ranked Marquette pulled away for a 100-80 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday night at the Bradley Center.

Tone Boyle scored 23 points and Avery Smith added 22 for Milwaukee (3-2), which led for a lengthy stretch of the first half but shot just 28.6 percent in the second 20 minutes.

Jerel McNeal added 22 for Marquette (3-0), which reached 100 points for second-straight game.

The Panthers and head coach Rob Jeter were playing just two days after the death of his father, Bob, a two-time Super Bowl champion and member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. The teams and crowd observed a moment of silence before the game tipped off.

The first half featured plenty of end-to-end action, with the Panthers leading 29-26 after a Smith three. They were still ahead 31-28 when James Eayrs followed up a miss by Boyle with an inside basket and a three-point play by Jason Averkamp pushed UWM ahead 36-33 with 6:08 remaining. But, Marquette wound up finishing the half on an 8-2 run and then scored the first 10 points of the second half to take a 15-point advantage.

UWM did get the deficit quickly down to 10 and the Panthers were still within 11 with 12 minutes remaining, but the offensive firepower of the Golden Eagles was too much to overcome.

"We hit a stretch there where we got disjointed a little bit. We were shooting 50 percent in the first half and I thought we were together," Jeter said. "In the second half I thought we did too much as individuals and the more pressure Marquette put on us from the perimeter, we tried to take it one-on-one instead of getting the ball moving."

As UWM's offense was slowing down, Marquette's was picking up. The Golden Eagles shot 54 percent in the second half on their way to 55 points.

"We knew they were one of the quickest, most athletic set of guards in the country," Boyle said. "We didn't stop penetration like we wanted. They got around us and finished their layups."

Milwaukee also struggled with foul trouble much of the game. Smith and Ricky Franklin each picked up their third personal fouls just before halftime, while Deonte Roberts fouled out with over 10 minutes remaining. In all, the two teams combined to shoot 61 free throws as 48 fouls were whistled in the contest.

UWM returns to action Tuesday night, hosting Ball State in a 7 p.m. contest at the U.S. Cellular Arena.