Jan. 30, 2013

Box Score

CHICAGO - Loyola scored 20-straight points in a decisive second-half run to claim a 76-65 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Wednesday night at the Gentile Arena.

The Panthers (5-17, 1-7 Horizon) led by as many as eight points in the first half and were still up 44-42 with 14:10 remaining before the extended Rambler burst put the game out of reach.

Jordan Aaron and Austin Arians scored 17 points apiece for Milwaukee, which shot 44.4 percent from the field but allowed Loyola (13-8, 3-5) to shoot almost 53 percent.

Ben Averkamp had 22 points and 12 rebounds while Jordan Hicks added 21 for the Ramblers, who snapped a four-game losing streak against the Panthers in Chicago.

Demetrius Harris added 11 points and eight rebounds for UWM, which saw J.J. Panoske limited to just 11 minutes by foul trouble.

But again, Milwaukee fell victim to a second-half surge.

"We know it has happened to us before. We get in a run where we make a series of mistakes, whether it is turnovers, bad shots or offensive rebounds. We could survive one of those in a stretch but not all three," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "There was a time in there with all three, and as a result that run, instead of being maybe just two or four (baskets), turns in to eight or 10."

The shooting of Arians sparked Milwaukee in the first half, as 11 of his 17 points came as UWM built a 33-32 halftime edge. It was a nice response to being held scoreless in Friday's loss to Green Bay.

"If he can make a few shots against Green Bay Friday, that game probably doesn't go into double figures and we have a chance to win the game. Tonight he was able to keep the game where it was manageable for us to have an opportunity," Jeter said. "Austin is huge for us, and J.J. inside just having a presence for us is very important, but he wasn't out there because of fouls. We're counting on two freshmen and while that can be a problem now they have time to get better and better and it's a good sign for the future."

The decisive stretch of the game came midway through the second half. Milwaukee grabbed a 44-42 lead on an Aaron hoop with 14:10 remaining but the Panthers went quiet after that. Loyola's 20-point run was sparked by back-to-back threes from Cully Payne and Devon Turk that pushed the lead to 54-44, and then Averkamp scored six in a row to make it 60-44.

After the Ramblers' lead hit 62-44, Arians knocked in a three to finally end the nearly eight-minute scoreless spell, but Milwaukee could never recover. The Panthers were able to get within nine points at 71-62 on an Aaron three with 1:33 remaining and again cut the deficit to 74-65 on a pair of Paris Gulley free throws, but UWM ran out of time.

Nothing was decided in the first 20 minutes of action. Milwaukee started out hot, building an 18-13 lead on a three by Arians before extending the edge to 23-15 on another Arians three. Loyola countered with 10-1 run to claim a 25-24 advantage and then led 29-26 on a layin by Christian Thomas with 2:45 remaining. But it was Milwaukee with a final push, as a three by Arians put the Panthers back ahead and UWM carried a 33-32 lead into the locker room.

The Panthers wrap up their road trip Friday night at Valparaiso. The contest with the first-place Crusaders starts at 7 p.m. CST.