Feb. 10, 2011

Box Score  |  Postgame Extra

CHICAGO - Tony Meier had 16 points and Kaylon Williams contributed 10 rebounds and eight assists as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 66-57 win over Loyola Thursday night at the Gentile Center.

The Panthers (14-11, 9-5 Horizon) built a 19-point first-half lead and then hung on in winning their fifth-straight game.

Tone Boyle added 12 points for Milwaukee, which limited Loyola to 33 percent shooting from the field.

Andy Polka had 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Ramblers (13-12, 4-10).

"I am really pleased with our guys' effort," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "That first 15 minutes defensively, we played very intense and tough and we were able to establish a tempo and a style of game that we really wanted, even without Anthony Hill in the game."

UWM got a variety of additional offensive contributions, including nine points and five rebounds from Ryan Allen and eight points from Mitchell Carter. Carter was called into his most extensive action of the season as Hill played just 13 minutes because of foul trouble.

"I thought Mitchell Carter was big for us," Jeter said. "We were looking for some inside scoring and he came in and was huge for us. I thought the way Kaylon managed the game on both ends of the floor was pretty good. We just mixed in a lot of different guys to pick up for Anthony Hill, but none of it works unless you have a good point guard out there that's really helping to manage the team."

"We have a lot of good players around him," Williams said of the Panthers playing long stretches without Hill, who leads the team in scoring and is the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week. "Tone Boyle, Tony Meier, Ja'Rob (McCallum) - those guys can shoot the ball so it makes it a lot easier on me. Then, when you put a seven-footer in there that comes out and plays the way Mitch Carter did tonight, it makes my job easy. I thought we did a great job defensively to start the game and it led to good possessions on offense."

Milwaukee rode a hot start and stellar defense to a big first-half lead. The Panthers scored 16 of the first 18 points of the game, with two free throws from Allen making it 16-2 with just over six minutes gone. The lead grew to 20-5 on a three-pointer by Meier and was 26-7 when Meier buried another three-pointer with still 10:35 remaining.

UWM's offense went quiet from there, with the Panthers scoring just six points the rest of the half. But, Milwaukee defense allowed it to maintain a double-digit lead, as the Ramblers would get no closer than 10 points before halftime. It was actually nine points in a row by Loyola that cut the lead to 26-16, but Carter provided four late points off the bench to put Milwaukee up 32-20 at the half.

The Ramblers made just 7-of-26 from the field in the first half.

Loyola quickly pulled to within nine points early in the second half but a basket by Carter restored a 38-23 lead with 17:30 to play. The Panthers then had an answer every time the Ramblers surged back. A Meier three made it 52-40 with 6:45 remaining and a three-point play from Allen pushed the lead to 58-44 with 3:35 left. Milwaukee then added two layups and four free throws in the closing moments to hang on for the win.

The Panthers were disruptive on defense all evening long, forcing 15 turnovers and turning those into 22 points.

"We were able to get into some gaps and pinch and then get some of those layups," Jeter said. "When you can get uncontested shots, those are always big. As they tried to penetrate, we were able to get a few of those. We shot the passing lane and got some runouts."

UWM continues its weekend road swing through Chicago with a Saturday afternoon contest at UIC.