Hill Sparks Panthers Past Rangers

Nov. 8, 2008

MILWAUKEE - Anthony Hill scored 18 points and had nine rebounds to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to a 75-59 win over UW-Parkside Saturday night in an exhibition contest at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

UWM used 16 different players and had just one player on the floor for more than 22 minutes. The Panthers built a double-digit lead early in the second half and then were never threatened.

Milwaukee also got 14 points from Avery Smith, 10 points from Tone Boyle and eight points and nine rebounds from Tony Meier.

D.J. Dantzler scored 17 points to lead the Rangers, who beat the Panthers in an exhibition game two seasons ago and lost by just three points to UWM last season.

UWM made a marked improvement from Wednesday's exhibition opener in a pair of statistical categories. The Panthers cut their turnovers from 17 to nine and went from a plus-seven to a plus-19 edge in rebounding, while also consistently getting the ball into the lane offensively.

"I thought tonight we addressed those issues well," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "I like the fact we were able to get the ball into the paint - our points in the paint were great - and the guys were being aggressive to the rim. So the two things that were a little bit of a concern in the last game we were able to turn into positives for this one."

The Panthers led by as many as eight points in the first half, building a 15-7 lead just eight minutes in before still leading 35-27 after a three-point by Boyle with 3:23 remaining.

Milwaukee pushed its lead to 10 on a Hill basket with just under 16 minutes to play in the game and went up 54-41 on a layin by Smith two minutes later. From there, UWM substituted liberally and moved to a perfect 2-0 in exhibition play.

UWM will now get ready to open the regular season next weekend at the World Vision Classsic in Ames, Iowa. The Panthers will face Loyola Marymount Friday, Cal Davis Saturday and Iowa State Sunday.

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