Nov. 11, 2012

Box Score

COLUMBIA, SC - Jordan Aaron scored 28 points and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was ahead most of the way but could not hang on in dropping an 82-75 overtime decision to South Carolina Sunday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena.

Milwaukee led by as many as 17 points early in the second half and was still up eight with four minutes to play before losing in the extra five minutes.

South Carolina forced the extra session on a pair of free throws by Mindaugas Kacinas with less than 20 seconds remaining. UWM's Kyle Kelm was whistled for a foul challenging Kacinas' three-point attempt that missed badly.

"We had a great shot challenge," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said of the play near the end of regulation. "I think the delay (in the whistle being blown) is what caught me off-guard more than anything because I thought we had a heck of a shot challenge. We just have to play on from there. We had a chance in overtime, and we put them to the line too many times early. They were able to build a lead early and that pretty much kept us off-balance the rest of the way."

UWM then never led in the overtime period, with South Carolina scoring the first four points of the extra session to seize control. Austin Arians did hit a three-pointer to bring Milwaukee within three at 74-71 with just under two minutes remaining and two free throws by Aaron made it 78-75, but South Carolina was not going to let the game slip away.

In all, the Gamecocks made all 12 of their free throw attempts in overtime and 26-of-31 for the game. Meanwhile, Milwaukee converted on just 9-of-19 opportunities.

Aaron added six assists, four rebounds and three steals in playing 44 minutes for UWM. The junior made seven 3-pointers. James Haarsma added 14 points and 10 rebounds while Thierno Niang had nine points and helped slow South Carolina standout LaShay Page.

"For the most part, we kept our composure. In this environment, with a brand new coach, there was a lot of energy in the building," Jeter said. "We kept the crowd out of the game until the end. So I liked some of the toughness we showed, but there are definitely a few things we have to work on. Free throw shooting is the obvious one ... we have to be a better free throw shooting team."

After building its big lead, UWM was able to answer the challenges by South Carolina until the closing minutes of regulation. The Panthers saw a 40-23 lead early in the second half trimmed to 40-36, but Milwaukee answered with an 11-point run to restore a 51-36 lead.

UWM still led 63-54 on a Ryan Haggerty basket with 5:01 remaining and 66-58 on a three-pointer by Niang with just over four minutes left. But Milwaukee would not score again in regulation, as Eric Smith brought the Gamecocks to within 66-64 on a basket with just over a minute to play and then tied the game at 66 on the two free throws by Kacinas. Milwaukee was able to hold off South Carolina on a final possession but then could never regain its balance in overtime.

"I am proud of how our guys competed. I thought we put ourselves in position to win the game," Jeter said. "But unfortunately, for us, we just didn't make a few plays down the stretch. Our guys came down here to better than we were Friday night and we were better than Friday night."

The Panthers used a big surge to build a double-digit lead in the first half. After falling down by as many as three points in the first eight minutes of the half, UWM fought back to claim a 19-14 advantage with 8:10 to play in the half. UWM extended the edge to 27-19 on a pair of Aaron three-pointers with 4:30 remaining and eventually pushed the lead to 32-19 on a Haggerty free throw with 2:41 remaining.

South Carolina was able to cut the deficit to nine at 32-23, but Aaron took over again. He buried two more threes in the final minute of the half, giving Milwaukee a 38-23 lead at the break.

UWM pushed the lead to 40-23 on a Haarsma dunk early in the second half before the Gamecocks started their comeback. They scored the next 13 points to pull within 40-36, though Milwaukee answered with 11 in a row to rebuild a 51-36 advantage. From there, UWM consistently led by 6-9 points before South Carolina's final surge.

Milwaukee comes back home Saturday, welcoming NCAA qualifier Davidson to the Klotsche Center for a 7 p.m. contest.