The Milwaukee men's basketball team officially gets the 2016-17 campaign started this week, welcoming MSOE to the UWM Panther Arena for a Friday evening tilt, set to start at 7 p.m. to get the season opener underway. The Panthers are coming off a 77-62 win over Concordia University Wisconsin in their lone exhibition outing this past Saturday, while the Raiders are kicking off the start of their new campaign with the contest. The matchup will mark the first regular-season game for new Milwaukee head coach LaVall Jordan.

LOOKING AT RAIDERS
The Raiders are coming off a 15-13 campaign in 2015-16, overcoming a No. 6 seed in the NACC Tournament to advance to the league title game where they fell to eventual national runner-up Benedictine. The squad returns just one starter from last season in senior Collin Seubert, who averaged 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

SERIES HISTORY
Friday's game will be first-ever between the two schools in the regular season on the hardwood. MSOE and Milwaukee last played in an exhibition game to start the 2008-09 season (a 68-43 UWM victory), but do have a history dating back prior to when Milwaukee moved to the NCAA Division I level full-time in 1990-91. The Panthers have won each of the three regular season games between the teams from 1985-87.

LAST GAME
The Panthers used a 20-5 scoring run midway through the second half to put away Concordia University Wisconsin in earning a 77-62 exhibition victory Nov. 5 at the Klotsche Center.
 
Brock Stull led the way with 17 points, going 7-of-9 from the field while adding six rebounds. Jeremy Johnson was also in double-figures with 15, helping LaVall Jordan to a win in his first outing as head coach.
 
The Panthers used the huge scoring spree to take control over the Falcons, taking over after Concordia had made a dent of its own to get UWM's advantage down to 44-40. The spurt saw the Panthers limit their opponents to just one make in six attempts while forcing three turnovers. The final basket in the run was a dunk by Bryce Barnes on a fast break rebound to make it 63-45.
 
The Falcons never got closer than 15 the rest of the way, with Milwaukee emptying the bench. Fourteen players saw action, nine of them finding their way into the scoring column.
 
In addition to Stull and Johnson, several players made quality debuts. August Haas finished with nine points, three assists and a pair of rebounds despite foul trouble. Barnes finished with eight points and seven rebounds in just 17 minutes.
 
Bryce Nze hit the boards hard in his UWM debut, tying for the team lead by collecting eight in just 10 minutes. Brett Prahl added seven points and eight boards.

THE BIG DEBUT
November 11 against MSOE marks the big day for LaVall Jordan, making his head coaching debut following 12 years as an assistant. That span came most recently at Michigan (6 years, 143-70, .671 winning percentage). Prior to that were stops at Iowa (3 years) and Butler (3 years) following a successful playing career as a Bulldog that included four postseason appearances (3 NCAA/1 NIT). In all, between his years as a player or a coach, Jordan has appeared in the postseason in 11 of his 16 seasons.

AND WE'RE OFF
A couple of different looks to the season opener, which sees Milwaukee playing its opening game of the season at the UWM Panther Arena for the first time since a win over SW Minnesota State to kick off the 2011-12 campaign. The team is 15-11 in season openers since returning to the NCAA Division I ranks full-time in 1990-91, which includes a 71-58 victory over Denver to start the 2015-16 slate a year ago. More impressively, the team is 22-4 in that same span in home openers, claiming wins in 15 of the past 16 (13 in a row at one point). Also, the Panthers have not lost the season opener when it is played at home since dropping an 80-79 decision to Platteville in November of 1994 (have won the previous 10 in that scenario).

LEARNING ON THE FLY
Due to graduation and transfers, the Panthers will not have quite the veteran presence of most of their opponents. Senior Cody Wichmann will be looked at heavily on that front, as he is the only current player on the roster to have started a game in a Milwaukee uniform at the NCAA Division I level. In fact, his career numbers total more than the returning players on the active roster in numerous categories. Wichmann enters the 2016-17 season with 408 career points, compared to the 219 tallied by other returners. He also leads the way in minutes played at 1,367 (852), field goals made at 139 (78), rebounds at 148 (143), assists at 67 (39).

Newcomer Cameron Harvey adds an experienced hand. He was an everyday starter for Stetson in his two seasons there and appeared in every game off the bench as a freshman at Eastern Illinois University. His career totals at the NCAA Division I level include 97 career games played (55 starts), 413 points, 97 rebounds and 45 assists.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Milwaukee has gone 19-8 at home the past two seasons combined and has won 14 of its last 19 games at UWM Panther Arena. Over that 19-game stretch, the Panthers have lit up the scoreboard for 77.7 ppg, while shooting 45.2 percent (490-for-1085) from the field and a respectable 37.4 percent (170-for-455) from three-point territory.

THE NEW CREW
Head coach LaVall Jordan and his staff spent the offseason building the roster, eventually adding eight new faces to the team in addition to Jeremy Johnson who redshirted last year at UWM following an injury. In all, the roster will have seven freshmen (six new players and Johnson) and a pair of transfers added to the program.

A WARM WELCOME
In additon to the new players on the roster this season, LaVall Jordan and staff announced the newest signing for next year when Carson Newsome signed his NLI Nov. 9. Newsome, a 6-foot, 5-inch guard, becomes Jordan's first member of the 2017 recruiting class. He currently attends Waukegan High School, in Waukegan Ill.
 
Newsome is a three-year starter for the Waukegan Bulldogs. Last year, he averaged twelve points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals per contest, was named MVP at the Grant Thanksgiving Tournament and earned second team all-area honors.

JUST KEEP MAKING 'EM
The Panthers were one of the top shooting teams in the Horizon League last season, ranking first in team field-goal percentage for the large majority of the campaign. They finished shooting 45.6 percent (879-of-1927), the third-best shooting percentage in program history. The best team shooting percentage in program history was set in 2003-04 at 47.7 percent (838-of-1757).

In addition, the Panthers set or came close to breaking numerous other school marks. New standards were established in points with 2,618 (prior record was 2,466 in 2002-03), field goals made with 879 (874 in 2002-03), field goals attempted at 1,927 (1,907 in 1990-91), three-pointers made at 306 (264 in 2011-12), three's attempted at 842 (763 in 2011-12) and free-throw percentage at .772 (.745 in 1993-94). In addition, the team's scoring average of 79.3 ppg placed fourth all-time.

LOOKING FOR AN ENCORE
The Panthers will look to start the season with the same momentum as a year ago. The team's 8-3 start through 11 games in 2015-16 was one of the best-ever, trailing only a pair of 9-2 starts (2013-14 and 2002-03) and the school-record opening of 10-1 back in 1992-93. People took notice nationally as well, with Milwaukee breaking into the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll Dec. 14. The Panthers entered at No. 21 that day.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE
As a team, Milwaukee finished at 77.2 percent (554-for-718) from the foul line a season ago to break the school record. Not only was it a school record, but the total finished fifth at the entire NCA level last season (Connecticut led the way at .793).

The Panthers have performed very well at the line over the past three years. In fact, a look at the school records in that category proves that emphatically.

>>Team Season FT Records
1. .772 (554-718), 2015-16
2. .745 (433-581), 1993-94
3. .737 (434-589), 2014-15
4. .734 (604-823), 2013-14
5. .733 (482-658), 1999-2000

CONTROL THE ROCK
Milwaukee will look to continue another trend from last season ... taking care of the ball. A year ago, the Panthers led the Horizon League - and finished seventh in the nation - with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.56.

THAT 70s SHOW
Milwaukee, which scored 71 or more points in 25 of its 32 contests in the 2015-16 season, has now prevailed in 25 of its last 35 games when scoring 70 or more points.

BACK TO BACK BLOWOUTS
The Panthers enjoyed back-to-back wins by 34 and 36 points, Feb. 20 & 22 of last season, marking the first time they won consecutive games by at least 30 points since the start of the 2004-05 season. That year, Milwaukee rolled up Prairie View, 117-55, and then beat Parkside handily, 87-50, in the first two games of the year.

FILLING IT UP
The Panthers hit the 80-point plateau again against Northern Kentucky March 5 of last season, marking the 16th time the team scored at least 80 points on the season. For comparison, Milwaukee scored at least 80 points on just a pair of occasions in 2014-15. Three seasons ago in the run to the NCAA Tournament, the Panthers accomplished the feat 11 times.

ADDING A PAIR OF B1G W1NS
Milwaukee may have been just 10-49 (.169) all-time versus current members of the Big Ten Conference coming into last season, but it now owns its first-ever two-game winning streak against the conference after posting a big 68-67 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers Dec. 9 and following that up with a convincing 74-65 win over the Minnesota Gophers Dec. 23. The Panthers' last prior win over a Big Ten foe came on January 26, 2005, when they knocked off Purdue, 73-68, in West Lafayette, Ind.

CONSIDER IT A QUALITY START
At 9-4 overall prior to the start of Horizon League play last season, Milwaukee got off to one of its best-ever starts. Outside of an eight-point loss at #18 Notre Dame, the Panthers other three losses were by a total of eight points, with two of the losses coming in overtime and another where a made three-pointer at the final horn was ruled to have come too late or that contest would have headed to overtime as well. Milwaukee came close to the school record of winning 10 regular season non-league games, set recently in 2013-14. Milwaukee also won nine regular season contests outside of the Horizon League in 2002-03, while the Panthers have won eight regular season non-league games five other times.

SCOREBOARD WORKOUT
It took the Panthers less than 40 minutes to break the program's NCAA Division I record for points in a game against Judson Dec. 13 of last season, with a putback with 2:33 to play giving the team 119 to eclipse the former mark of 117. The top three on that list now read:
1. 125 vs. Judson, 12/13/15
2. 117 vs. Prairie View A&M, 11/20/04
3. 112 vs. Northeastern Illinois, 2/2/91

It was a busy first half as well, as UWM piled up 66 points over the first 20 minutes to also break the school mark for points before halftime that was originally set back in 1991. The list is now three for the amount of times Milwaukee has scored more than 60 prior to intermission.
1. 66 vs. Judson, 12/13/15
2. 61 vs. Cal State Northridge
3. 60 vs. UMKC, 12/29/90

The contest was Milwaukee's first over 100 points in 362 games and its first victory of 40-plus points in 299 outings - since a 98-57 win over Youngstown State back on February 9, 2006.

IT WAS KIND OF A BIG DEAL
It was a record-breaking day against Judson Dec. 13, with a few near-misses to go along with a handful of new standards. One of those was made field goals, as Milwaukee made 47 of 75 attempts from the floor. Not only was the 62.7 percent the fourth-best performance in school history, but the 47 field goals easily topped the former standard of 42, set against Youngstown State back on February 9, 2006.

In addition, the 32 assists (compared to just nine turnovers) tied the school mark, first established against Prairie View A&M back in 2004. Lastly, at 55-27, the +28 rebounding margin was second in school history to a +36 advantage set against Loyola in 2009.

NOT BAD FOR A FROSH
Brock Stull came off the bench to play 19 minutes in the big win over Judson Dec. 13 of last season and certainly played a key role in UWM getting to 125 points. He poured in 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, adding five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a pair of blocks. In doing so, he became the first UWM freshman to finish with at least 15 points in a game since 2009 (when Tony Meier netted 17 vs. UIC 1/31/09). In fact, his 18 points marked the most by a freshman in nearly nine years - since Ricky Franklin also went for 18 against Youngstown State back on January 13, 2007.

THE "D" IS KEY
In its 20 wins a year ago, Milwaukee limited opponents to 67.9 points per game and 42.1 percent (496-for-1177) shooting from the field, including holding a potent Wisconsin offense down to 36.4 percent shooting from the field. However, in 13 losses, the Panthers yielded 79.4 ppg and seen foes sink 48.9 percent (386-for-789) of their field goal attempts.

HE'S THE CHIEF
Former Milwaukee forward Demetrius Harris (2011-13) is once again on the active roster for the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, catching 10 passes in eight games so far in 2016. In fact, he made nine starts in the 16 games of the regular season in 2015, recording seven catches, including his first career TD in the regular-season finale. The first Panther to play in the NFL since 1983, Harris played two seasons at Milwaukee and helped the team to a College Basketball Invitational appearance in 2012 before putting up 9.1 ppg and 5.3 rpg in 2012-13. Last season, the 6-foot-7 Harris appeared in eight games as a tight end for the Chiefs in 2014 and hauled in three passes for 20 yards before suffering a season-ending foot injury during warm-ups against Buffalo in early November.

LEAGUE HONORS
Matt Tiby and Jordan Johnson were both honored when the league announced its 2015-16 postseason awards as voted on by league coaches, sports information directors and local media. Tiby was selected as a first-team member, while Johnson earned a spot on the second team. That marked the second year in a row that Milwaukee has had two members of the 10-player squad. It also marks the first time it has had a first-team member since Anthony Hill in 2010-11.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Matt Tiby reached the milestone in style, scoring a career-high 31 points against South Dakota Dec. 17 to become the 26th player to net 1,000 or more points in a Panther uniform (and the first since Tony Meier at the end of the 2011-12 campaign). In just three seasons as a Panther, Tiby nearly cracked the all-time Top 10.

CLIMBING THE CHART:
9. 1,388 - Dylan Page (2000-04)
10. 1,359 - Dexter Riesch (1966-70)
11. 1,332 - Matt Tiby (2013-16)
12. 1,291 - Ricky Franklin (2006-10)
13. 1,226 - Scott Netzel (1953-57)
14. 1,216 - Craig Greene (1989-93)
15. 1,208 - Dave Vincent (1957-61)

In addition, he finished as one of just 12 UWM players to record over 1,000 points and 500 boards in a career. The last addition to that list came in the 2010-11 season via Anthony Hill (1,022 pts/513 reb).

IT'S OUR HOUSE
Although the building in not new and has been the site to many historic basketball moments in Milwaukee history, this is UWM's third season in an arena that bears its name - UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. In July of 2014, the University and Wisconsin Center District entered into a 10-year partnership that included naming rights to the facility formerly known as The MECCA and most recently, U.S. Cellular Arena.

UP NEXT
The Panthers hit the road quickly, traveling to Tennessee for a midweek affair with Memphis Wednesday. Kickoff against the Tigers is set for 7 p.m.