Milwaukee vs. Oral Roberts Game Notes (pdf)

MILWAUKEE vs. ORAL ROBERTS
Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - 3 p.m. CT
Las Vegas, Nev. - WISN (1130 AM)

THE OPENING TIP 
• Milwaukee shoots for the title of the Middleweight Bracket of the MGM Grand Main Event when it tangles with Oral Roberts Wednesday afternoon on the final day of play at the tournament. A win over Oral Roberts would give the Panthers an in-season tournament title for the second consecutive season. Last year, Milwaukee went 3-0 to claim the crown at the Northern Illinois Invitational.
 
• In their two wins this season, the Panthers have held opponents to 53.0 points per game and a combined 34 percent (37-for-110) shooting from the field. Milwaukee has won its last seven games when holding the opposition to fewer than 60 points.
 
• Milwaukee is 5-2 in its last seven games played on neutral floors.
 
• Over his last four games, guard Steve McWhorter has filled up the stat sheet to the tune of 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per contest. In addition, the 6-foot-2 senior has shot a scorching 53 percent (26-for-49) from the field, 37 percent (7-for-19) from three-point territory and 76 percent (13-for-17) from the charity stripe.
 
• After committing only 9.0 turnovers per games through the first three outings this season, the Panthers have coughed up the ball a total of 39 times (19.5 per) in their last two contests. Milwaukee's 22 turnovers versus Louisiana on Monday were its most since February 12, 2012 at Detroit (25).
 
•As a team, Milwaukee has reversed its fortunes at the charity stripe. After connecting on 55 percent (36-for-65) of their free tosses in the first three outings this season,  the Panthers have drained 25 of their last 31 attempts (81 percent) from the foul line.
 
ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Heading into Tuesday's game with Louisiana, Oral Roberts was 1-2 with a victory over Tulsa and losses at Missouri and Oregon State. Junior guard Obi Emegano (21.0 ppg) is one of three Golden Eagles averaging double figures in scoring. Oral Roberts hasn't shot the ball particularly well in 2014-15, converting only 34 percent of its field-goal attempts and 28 percent of its three-point tries. ORU has been a consistently successful program under 16th-year head coach Scott Sutton, with 13 winning seasons and seven postseason appearances.
 
SERIES STUFF
Milwaukee and Oral Roberts are meeting for the fifth time in a series that dates back to 1974. The Golden Eagles own a 4-0 edge in the all-time series and the teams are squaring off for the first time since January 19, 1980, when Milwaukee dropped a 91-80 decision in Brew Town. Last week, the Panthers stumbled against Summit League member IUPUI, 70-68, and they are 29-28 all-time versus current members of the conference.
 
TERRIFIC TURNAROUND
After winning only eight games in 2012-13, Milwaukee engineered the best turnaround in the nation in 2013-14 by posting 21 victories for a 13-game improvement in the win column. Milwaukee has now won 20 or more games four times under Rob Jeter and seven times in the last 12 years.
 
SEEING DOUBLE DOUBLE
In Monday afternoon's game versus Louisiana, Steve McWhorter recorded his first career double-double, putting up 18 points (one shy of equaling a career high), while also matching a personal best with 10 rebounds. He is the first Panther to register double digits in both points and rebounds since Matt Tiby went for 15 points and 10 rebounds at Green Bay in the Horizon League Championship Semifinals on March 8, 2014. McWhorter's 10 boards are the most by a Milwaukee guard this season and the most since McWhorter himself pulled down 10 misfires at Green Bay on March 8, 2014.
 
SPRINGS FEVER
Sophomore Akeem Springs got his Milwaukee career off to an impressive start in the season opener at Auburn on November 14. The transfer from Northern Illinois totaled 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists at Auburn after leading the team with 15 points in the exhibition victory over UW-Platteville on November 6. Springs is the second Panther newcomer in as many years to score 20 or more points in his debut in the Black and Gold. Last season, Matt Tiby poured in 21 points in the season opener at Loyola Chicago. Springs, who contributed 7.7 ppg at Northern Illinois in 2012-13, got off to a fast start that season as well, averaging 11.0 ppg over the first nine games. His play stood out to Rob Jeter that year as Springs narrowly missed out on a double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds against his current team. Since getting off to that great start at Auburn, Springs has cooled off and accounted for 5.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 1.3 apg, while hitting 21 percent (7-for-33) of his field goal tries. In three games away from home this year, Springs is contributing 9.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 1.3 apg.
 
WE'RE COMING HOME AGAIN
Following Wednesday's game versus Oral Roberts at the MGM Grand Main Event, Milwaukee will play four of its next five games at home in Milwaukee, beginning with a November 29 matchup with Concordia-St. Paul.
 
TIBY TIME
Junior Matt Tiby is primed for a big season in 2014-15. The emotional leader of the Panthers squad, the 6-foot-8 forward made an immediate impact in his first season of Division I basketball last year, ranking third on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg), while leading the club in rebounding (6.5 rpg). Tiby, who scored in double figures on 24 occasions in 2013-14, got his season off to a hot start a year ago, pitching in 17.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg through the first four games. A 2015 Preseason Second Team All-Horizon League selection, the Urbandale, Iowa native recorded six double-doubles a year ago and scored in double figures on 24 occasions, five times topping the 20-point mark. Milwaukee went 5-1 last season when he posted a double-double. Earlier this month, Tiby was named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List. The award is presented annually to the NCAA Division I Mid-Major Player of the Year and Tiby is one of three Horizon League players - Keifer Sykes (Green Bay) and Tyler Lewis (Cleveland State) are the others - on the watch list. Tiby played a season-high 31 minutes versus Louisiana on Monday and hit the go-ahead basket with 43 seconds remaining. In his last six games on neutral floors, he is collecting 12.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 2.2 apg and UWM is 12-6 in his career when he pulls down seven or more rebounds.
 
ON POINT
Redshirt senior Steve McWhorter's play was instrumental in the Panthers making a late-season run a year ago. A veteran who serves as coach on the floor, the Racine, Wis., native averaged 7.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.0 apg and 1.5 spg last year. Not known as a big scorer, McWhorter has scored in double digits on 17 occasions in his UWM career and the Panthers are 13-4 in those contests. In 2013-14, he started all 35 games and through the first five outings of the season, pitched in 10.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.2 apg and 1.4 spg, while connecting on 59 percent (20-for-34) of his field goal tries. Over the last four contests, McWhorter has asserted himself at the offensive end of the floor and is collecting 18.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.0 bpg and 1.5 spg. Last Wednesday night versus IUPUI he netted a career-best 19 points and Monday afternoon he produced 18 points, 10 boards, four assists and four steals to power Milwaukee to a victory over Louisiana. McWhorter is shooting 53 percent (26-for-49) from the field in the last four games. A winner in every sense of the word, in three seasons on active rosters at both Indiana State and Milwaukee, McWhorter has helped his team reach the postseason on three occasions (2 NCAA, 1 CIT).
 
CODY CONTRIBUTES
After putting up 2.5 ppg as a freshman in 2013-14, Cody Wichmann has shouldered a bigger load in the early portion of the 2014-15 campaign and has responded in great fashion. Seeing more minutes due to the absence of Austin Arians, the sophomore sharpshooter is putting up 7.8 ppg and shooting 48 percent (10-for-21) from three-point land, while hitting at least one trey in all five contests. Wichmann, who dropped in a season-high 10 points versus Minnesota-Crookston on November 17, has committed only one turnover in 101 minutes of action this season and in addition to registering nine points at Oklahoma State last Friday night, also corralled a career-best five rebounds. Milwaukee is 4-0 in his career when he scores 10 or more points.
 
K.C. MASTERPIECE
Kansas City, Mo., native J.R. Lyle has gotten his junior campaign off to a strong start. The 6-foot-2 guard has started all five games this season and ranks second on the team with 10.0 ppg. Lyle, who has scored in double digits twice this year and five times in his last 14 contests dating back to last season, is active at both ends of the floor. In addition to his scoring average, which ranks second on the club, Lyle is tops on the squad with nine total steals (1.8 spg) and he is knocking down 46 percent (17-for-37) of his shots from the field. Dating back to last season, in his last six starting assignments, Lyle is contributing 11.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.7 apg and 1.7 spg, while sinking 50 percent (26-for-52) of his attempts from the field and 35 percent (7-for-20) from three-point territory.
 
SITTING THIS ONE OUT
In addition to Scotty Tyler, a transfer from Idaho State University, who must sit out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA rules, Milwaukee junior forward Austin Arians and freshman guards Brock Stull and Derek Rongstad will redshirt. Arians averaged 11.1 ppg and drained 67 three-pointers a year ago. A tremendous all-around athlete who also was a standout football player at Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford, Ill., Stull totaled 1,194 points in his prep career. Meanwhile, Rongstad was a prolific three-point shooter during his prep career at Middleton High School in Middleton, Wis., connecting on 105 triples.
 
WHITE HOT
Junior Trinson White came off the bench to provide a huge lift to the Panthers in Monday's victory over Louisiana. The 6-foot-5 swing man went for season highs of nine points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of action. Coming into the game against the Ragin' Cajuns, White had produced just one point and a rebound in 30 total minutes of action in three appearances.
 
FROM THE HARDWOOD TO THE GRIDIRON
Former Milwaukee forward Demetrius Harris has joined the likes of former college basketball players Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham and made a career as a tight end in the National Football League. The 6-foot-7 Harris, who starred at UWM for two seasons (2011-13), was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad last year before earning a spot on the active roster this season. Before breaking his foot in pregame warm-ups on November 9, he had appeared in eight games this year and caught three passes for 20 yards. Harris averaged 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game at Milwaukee in 2012-13 and is the first Panther to play in the NFL since 1983.
 
JORDAN RULES
Freshman guard Justin Jordan brings some interesting bloodlines to the Milwaukee program. The Davidson, N.C., native is the son of Larry Jordan and the nephew of former NBA great, six-time NBA champion, Hall of Famer and current Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan. Justin played last season at Hargrave Military Academy and contributed 13 points, eight assists and four steals per game. In the season opener at Auburn, he showed the poise of a veteran, totaling 11 points, three rebounds and three assists off the bench to become the first Panther true freshman since Tony Meier in 2008 to score 10 or more points in a season opener. That effort earned him Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors and he followed that up with a team-high-tying seven rebounds off the bench last Monday versus Minnesota-Crookston. Jordan is posting 6.7 ppg and 1.7 rpg in three games away from home this season.
 
PANOSKE PRODUCES
Junior J.J. Panoske has started the first five games and in addition to shooting a staggering 57 percent (16-for-28) from the field, the 6-foot-10 forward has drained 5 of 12 shots from beyond the arc. In Milwaukee's last four outings, the Brodhead, Wis., native is tallying 8.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.5 apg and 1.0 bpg, while shooting 54 percent (14-for-26). The big man has knocked down at least one three-point field in four of the Panthers' five games this season and in three games away from home is producing 6.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg.
 
HOW SWEET IT WAS
The 2014-15 season marks the 10-year anniversary of Milwaukee's magical run to the NCAA Sweet 16. Led by the play of Ed McCants, Joah Tucker and Adrian Tigert, the Panthers knocked off Alabama and Boston College in the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national runner-up Illinois. Two members of Rob Jeter's current staff - Chris Hill and Allan Hanson - were on that Sweet 16 squad. Milwaukee finished the year with a 26-6 overall record and a No. 23 ranking in the final ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Poll.