Jan. 3, 2011

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MILWAUKEE - Anthony Hill had 22 points, Tony Meier 20 and Kaylon Williams collected the first triple-double by a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee player since 1993 as the Panthers rolled to a 76-52 win over Butler.

The victory snapped the Bulldogs' 22-game regular season Horizon League winning streak and snapped a six-game overall winning streak by the defending national runner-ups.

UWM (8-8, 3-2 Horizon) made 55.3 percent of its shots overall and knocked in 11 three-pointers.

Williams ran the Milwaukee offense flawlessly, consistently producing touches in the post for Hill and open perimeter shots for Meier and Tone Boyle (15 points/nine rebounds). The junior point guard wound up with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, collecting the just the third triple-double in UWM's Division I history.

Matt Howard had 14 points to lead the Bulldogs, who shot just 38.9 percent from the field. Butler never led and trailed by double figures for nearly the entire second half.

Milwaukee started by establishing its inside game, as Hill scored seven of Milwaukee's first nine points. Soon after, the Panthers found wide open looks outside, with four 3-pointers in the first 11 minutes staking the Panthers to a double-digit advantage. UWM was truly never threatened after that.

"We tried to play the game simply, inside and out," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "We tried to be simple and keep simple actions by going inside. They do a heck of a job rotating ... they play pretty solid defensively. But sometimes you can catch them on a switch or catch them on a scramble, and you just have to trust you'll make the shot if you have that look."

Wins by UWM over Butler have actually bookended the Bulldogs' league streak, as a 63-60 Panther win in February of 2009 was the last league regular season loss by Butler before tonight.

"First of all, you give a lot of respect to Butler. They are the class of the league, no doubt about it, the way they go about their business and the way they represent the league," Jeter said. "I'm just proud of our guys. We talked about just doing the ordinary, and maybe something extraordinary could happen. That's what Butler does. They do the ordinary very well and they've been able to experience extraordinary things. For us to win this game tonight, after their string, there's no doubt about it, it's extraordinary."

Milwaukee scored the first seven points of the game and went back up 12-8 on a three by Meier. The lead grew to 20-14 on a three from Williams and hit 28-18 on another Williams three. Butler rallied to within 32-27 on a Howard basket, but Meier hit a three on the next possession to restore an eight-point advantage and UWM led 37-29 at the break.

Two-straight baskets by Hill pushed the lead into double figures and a three-pointer by Boyle extended the edge to 54-36 with 12:27 remaining. Williams hit his triple-double with an offensive rebound and three-pointer that made it 66-43 with 5:48 remaining, and Milwaukee eventually led by as many as 25 points as both teams emptied their benches.

UWM returns to action Saturday night, heading to Green Bay for a 7 p.m. contest.