Boxscore (pdf)
STILLWATER, Okla. (November 21, 2014) – The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's (1-3) spirited rally ultimately came up short in an 82-68 loss at Oklahoma State (4-0) tonight. Milwaukee, which shot 59 percent from the field in the second half, was led by
Steve McWhorter, who scored 18 points, giving him three consecutive games in doubles figures.
"If we were able to redo the first 20 minutes, I'd feel a lot better about the game," Milwaukee Head Coach
Rob Jeter said. "We took better care of the basketball in the second half, our tempo was better and we got post touches. I'm proud of how we competed in the second half."
Milwaukee, which received 13 points from its bench in the first half, including nine courtesy of a trio of three-pointers from
Cody Wichmann, struggled with the Cowboys' size and pressure in the opening 20 minutes. The Panthers, who came into the game averaging only 9.0 turnovers per game, committed 13 miscues in the first half alone.
But, after trailing by as many as 21 points in the game, the Panther slowly chipped away at the deficit in the second half and when
J.R. Lyle scored on a layup with 6:58 remaining, Milwaukee found itself within 73-62 with 6:58 to go. Lyle's bucket capped a 22-13 Panthers run.
A basket by McWhorter with a shade over five minutes remaining made it 76-66, but Milwaukee was unable to get closer than that the rest of the way, hitting only 1 of its final 7 shots after opening the half by draining 15 of its first 20 attempts.
Milwaukee, which turned the ball over only four times in the second half, wound up outrebounding a bigger Cowboys squad, 32-26.
McWhorter just missed out on recording a double-double, dishing out nine assists and grabbing six rebounds to go with his team-high 18 points to lead the Panthers.
Matt Tiby pitched in 10 points and Wichmann, Lyle and
J.J. Panoske tallied nine points apiece.
Phil Forte scored 20 points to pace Oklahoma State, which saw three other players score in double digits – Le'Bryan Nash (17), Michael Cobbins (15) and Anthony Hickey (15).
Milwaukee continues a long road trip when it heads to Las Vegas Monday (Nov. 24) to face Louisiana-Lafayette at the MGM Grand Main Event.
