Feb. 28, 2012

Box Score

  

MILWAUKEE - James Haarsma scored 18 points and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee jumped to a 34-6 lead in cruising to a 68-55 win over UIC in the first round of the Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament Tuesday night at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (20-12) hit on seven of their first nine attempts from three-point range in running away with the game in the first half.

Fourth-seeded Milwaukee advances to play fifth-seeded Butler Friday night in the second round of the tournament. The game will be played at Valparaiso's Athletics Recreation Center and is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Sports32 will provide live television coverage across eastern Wisconsin.

The win also pushed UWM to the 20-win plateau for the third time under head coach Rob Jeter and for just the 11th time in 115 years of basketball at the school.

Senior Ryan Allen added 17 points, six rebounds and five steals for Milwaukee in his best all-around effort in recent weeks.

"We've been talking with him a lot about how we can max out his abilities," Jeter said. "I liked the way he was concentrating and really trying to make something happen on both ends."

UWM also got a number of other contributions, including seven points and 11 rebounds from Tony Meier along with seven points, six assists and five rebounds from Kaylon Williams.

Hayden Humes scored 14 points to lead UIC (8-22), which shot just 32.7 percent from the field for the game.

Milwaukee started fast and didn't let up in the first 15 minutes. A pair of three-point plays by Allen made it 10-2 in the first five-and-a-half minutes and a three-pointer by Kyle Kelm extended the edge to 16-4 with 12:45 remaining. Paris Gulley added a three on Milwaukee's next possession and the lead was 19-4.

After UIC scored a basket, UWM tallied the next 15. Gulley and Haarsma made back-to-back threes to push the edge to 29-6 and then Allen electrified the crowd with an open-court dunk to make it 31-6. Haarsma capped the run with a three, pushing the lead to 34-6 with 5:30 remaining.

UIC slowed the Panthers from there, holding Milwaukee to a single point the rest of the half. But, the Flames could score only eight themselves and UWM led 35-14 at the half.

The Flames actually pulled to within 35-21 early in the second half before Milwaukee responded, scoring five in a row to push the lead back to 40-21. The advantage eventually hit 20 again on a three by Williams and then a three from Ryan Haggerty made it 52-31 with 13:20 left.

UIC never got closer than 16 points until the final minute.

"I thought the end of the first half was something we could have been better at," Jeter said. "We had a few turnovers and didn't score any points. But you could still sense we had the momentum and we were just trying to take that momentum into the second half. We did the right things to keep UIC away."

UWM and Butler split two games during the regular season, with each team winning on its homecourt. The The two sides also met in last year's league title game and will be squaring off in the league tournament for the third-straight season.