BOZEMAN, Mont. - The Milwaukee men's basketball team saw its big second-half lead get trimmed all the way down to two points, but responded by making 9-of-10 free throws in the final minute to secure an 83-78 victory over Montana State Monday night at Worthington Arena.
 
"I just think our maturity is improving each and every day," Milwaukee head coach LaVall Jordan said. "We had the big lead. We talked about the fact that they were going to make a run and that we had to hold them off and get key rebounds and guys had to make key free throws."
 
The Panthers (3-5) used a second-half surge to lead the Bobcats (5-3) by as many as 19 points before fending off the late comeback attempt, snapping Montana State's nine-game winning streak at home in the process.
 
"These guys are learning how to win," Jordan said. "I love the resiliency of the group and how we just talked about playing smarter. We've been playing hard every night – we've been getting the effort we need to be in games, but winning on the road – you have to play with a purpose. You have to be precise, you have to execute and then some guys need to step up and make some plays and we had guys do that."
 
Cameron Harvey paced Milwaukee with 17 points on a perfect night from the field, going 6-for-6 which included five three-pointers.
 
"I was extremely happy for Cam," Jordan said. "The kid worked so hard, his teammates were encouraging him and he's had a good stretch out here in Montana with the 6-for-6 tonight."
 
Brett Prahl came up big and set career-highs in both points and rebounds, finishing with 13 points and eight boards on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.
 
Cody Wichmann chipped in 12 points and five rebounds and Jeremiah Bell was in double-figures for the third game in a row, finishing with 12.
 
Milwaukee shot 53.1 percent (26-for-49) from the field and made 13 three-pointers to spoil a career-high effort from Tyler Hall, who ended with 42 points on 15-of-25 shooting from the floor.
 
Milwaukee held a six-point lead at intermission and came out of the locker room firing, building the advantage to as many as 19 when an 8-0 run was capped by a pair of Bryce Barnes free throws to make it 66-47 with 13:35 to play.
 
It looked to be all Milwaukee, but Hall had other plans. He scored 25 points in the second half alone to easily pass his former career-high of 36. Hall led the late charge, scoring nine of his team's 11 unanswered points to get it all the way back to a one-possession game at 74-72 with 1:58 remaining.
 
Prahl then came up with a key offensive rebound after Milwaukee ran the show clock down on the next possession, forcing the Bobcats to foul. Bell made a pair of free throws with 58 seconds left and the team would combine to make nine of 10 the rest of the way to ice the victory.
 
Earlier in the night, the Panthers hit close to 60 percent (16-of-27) of their shots in the first half, resulting in a season-best 44 points scored by the time Brock Stull's tip-in beat the buzzer.
 
It was a start that featured three key scoring runs.
 
Both teams came out hot. The Panthers hit four of their first five shots, with Harvey swishing a trio of 3's and a dunk by Bryce Nze making it 11-6 at the first media timeout.
 
But Montana State had an answer for everything early and it was all Hall. He sank the first eight shots he made – three 3's, two 2's and three free throws – with the free throws capping an 11-0 run that gave the home team a 22-16 advantage at the 11:12 mark.
 
Milwaukee had an answer – and it came from deep. First August Haas, then Stull, then Wichmann and another by Harvey, keyed a 14-2 uprising and gave Milwaukee the lead at 30-24 on a layup by Haas with just over eight minutes to play.
 
Nothing came easy. Montana State held tight and grabbed the lead again on a pair of free throws at 35-34. The momentum swung right back to the Panthers when Bell drilled a three as the shot clock expired to mark the ninth lead change of the period and one that UWM would not give back the rest of the night.
 
The Panthers scored 10 of the final 13 points of the frame to lead 44-38 at intermission.
 
For the game, UWM earned a 37-25 rebounding edge and finished 18-23 (.783) from the free throw line. Stull chipped in nine points, six rebounds and five assists, while Nze was plagued by foul trouble but still finished with seven points and six boards.
 
Up next, the team returns back to Wisconsin for the rest of the week, heading to a familiar spot Saturday when it visits former Horizon League foe Loyola. Game time in Chicago is scheduled for 3 p.m.