SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Milwaukee men's basketball team could not overcome a quick start from South Dakota State, playing evenly in the second half but dropping an 81-58 decision Sunday afternoon in the final game of the Sanford Pentagon Showcase.

"I thought our guys fought like crazy," Milwaukee head coach LaVall Jordan said. "I am proud of our effort here on this trip – third game, third day – and I thought we gave everything we had."
 
The Panthers (2-4) outscored the Jackrabbits (2-6) by a total of 39-37 after intermission, but were unable to get out of the early hole after the Jacks started red-hot from the field.
 
"We missed some open shots early and we wanted our guys to keep shooting the ball with confidence because we were getting good looks against [SDSU's zone]," Jordan said. "Then, on the other end, we weren't getting stops. A lot of times if you get stops you can run and beat the zone up the court and try and score in transition."
 
Cody Wichmann led Milwaukee with 18 points, which tied his career high and all came in the second half after leaving with an injury less than four minutes into the contest. 
 
Bryce Barnes came off the bench to hit 5-of-7 shots and finish with 13 points, adding four rebounds, while Jeremiah Bell chipped in seven points, four rebounds and five assists. Brock Stull's stat line consisted of nine points, nine rebounds and six assists on his way to a spot on the Sanford Pentagon Showcase All-Tournament Team.
 
Mike Daum led the way for an SDSU team that was on-target all night, finishing at 62.8 percent (27-of-43) from the floor overall, adding 11 three-pointers. Daum went for a career-high 32 points, sinking 10-of-13 shots from the field and 11-of-13 from the line.
 
"They hit eight three-pointers in the first half and kind of jumped on us," Jordan said. "That was the concern coming in. You knew they had a really good post player in Daum that was going to be tough to deal with, but they hadn't been making shots at that rate and you just didn't want it to be against you."
 
Down, 44-19, at intermission, UWM came out of the locker room in good shape. An 11-5 start to the second period forced a timeout and drew the Panthers within 19 at 49-30 and it appeared as though the comeback was on.
 
The Jackrabbits responded out of the timeout, however, scoring nine in a row at that point to take their biggest lead of the day and not look back from there.
 
Things did not start well for the Panthers and it only got worse in the first half. Down 8-0 a few minutes in, Wichmann came down on a Jackrabbit foot in the lane and had to be helped off the court and missed the rest of the period.
 
SDSU made nine of its first 13 shots in scoring the first 11 points, on its way to taking a 24-5 advantage midway through the period. The Panthers did not help themselves out, shooting 29.2 percent (7-for-24) from the floor and committing eight turnovers which the Jacks turned into an 11-0 advantage in points off miscues the first 20 minutes. The lead grew to as many as 28 before a three in front of the halftime horn by Cameron Harvey made it 44-19.
 
Up next, following the three games in South Dakota, the Panthers return home to host Jacksonville November 30. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.