Dec. 19, 2009

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MILWAUKEE - Ricky Franklin scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee used a pair of big runs to claim a 68-61 win over Miami (Ohio) Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Panthers (8-4) shot 54.5 percent in the second half and made six 3-pointers to lead by as many as 19 points.

A pair of true freshmen again sparked Milwaukee. Ja'Rob McCallum scored 14 off the bench while Lonnie Boga had 13 points and six rebounds in his second-straight start. Junior Anthony Hill also added 10 points and six boards.

Orlando Williams scored 17 points off the bench to lead Miami (3-8), which got within four points late in the game but shot just 39.3 percent from the floor.

Milwaukee put together a 15-3 run in the first half to build a nine-point halftime lead, then added a 21-8 second-half burst to take over the game.

"Everyone is going to talk about the shooting, but I thought defensively it was our best effort of the year," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "We knew we were in for a battle. Their record doesn't do them justice - they are very tough."

UWM found its stride in the second half, converting on 6-of-11 from three-point range and 12-of-22 overall over the final 20 minutes. That helped compliment the 26 points in the points and 17 points from the foul line Milwaukee scored in the game.

"It has been a part of our team, to be able to shoot the three, and we've been struggling a little bit from beyond the arc. That's been allowing teams to really fill the paint on us," Jeter said. "We really tried to keep probing the middle and then get the ball back outside after we touched the middle. That seemed to work a little bit better for us in the second half."

After falling behind early, the Panthers steadily built a halftime lead. Miami led 13-10 midway through the first half but UWM held the RedHawks without a field goal for more than five minutes in claiming a 19-13 lead. A jumper by McCallum pushed the lead to 23-16 with three minutes to play, and two free throws by Franklin 30 seconds later made it 25-16.

Miami did pull to within six points early in the second half but the Panthers blew the game open from there. Two-straight threes by McCallum made it 40-26 with 13:20 remaining and a three by Hill pushed the lead to 47-30 with 9:50 left. McCallum added another three and Deonte Roberts a free throw to extend the edge to 51-32 with 8:20 remaining.

The lead was still 57-38 after another three-pointer by McCallum with five minutes remaining, and UWM still was up 57-42 with less than three minutes left. The RedHawks made things quite interesting from there, though, pulling within nine at the 1:32 mark and within four on a three-pointer by Williams with 41 seconds remaining. But, Milwaukee hit all five of its free throws from there to wrap up the win.

UWM will play once more before a brief holiday break, heading to Madison for a contest with Wisconsin Wednesday.