HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Milwaukee men's basketball team led for the majority of the second half but could not put Northern Kentucky away, falling by a final score of 75-71 Saturday night at BB&T Arena.
 
"The guys in that locker room are really hurting right now," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "It's going to be a real test of who we are and to figure out how can continue to bounce back after this. I've said it time and time again, those guys work hard and have great attitudes. But, sometimes we need to pay a little more attention to the details that will help us win."
 
The Panthers (15-9, 6-5 Horizon League) played well and still held a seven-point cushion with just over eight minutes to play. The Norse (9-14, 5-7 Horizon League) stuck around, however, and then used a 10-2 scoring run to take their first lead of the game late, one they would not give up the rest of the night.
 
 "Mentally and physically, it's been a rough go lately," Jeter said. "But we don't feel sorry for ourselves and no one else will. We just have to figure out a way. We let some of the things we identified on the scouting report hurt us and it finally caught up to us. We've been battling through all year, escaping a couple, and tonight it just all caught up to us in this game."
 
J.J. Panoske led the Panthers with a game-high 21 points, sinking an impressive 9-of-11 shots from the floor while adding eight rebounds and four assists.
 
Jordan Johnson added another double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 assists. Matt Tiby joined them in double figures with 10.
 
Jalen Billups paced the Norse with 20 points, while Cole Murray made 5-of-7 three-pointers on his way to 15 points. Tyler White added 10 points, six assists and five rebounds, with his three-pointer that died on the rim before falling in with 10 seconds remaining putting the game away.
 
"A couple of things stood out," Jeter said. "It might be our lowest total of the year from the free throw line (UWM was 2-for-3). And I thought early, we got a lot of post touches. Second half, we just couldn't get to the line. We just couldn't create any fouls on them. That is a stat that looking at it jumps out. And then 15 turnovers is uncharacteristic for us. That just won't get it done on the road."
 
Milwaukee led by seven at halftime and the lead was never under six during the opening 10 minutes of the second half. In fact, the Panthers led by 11 at 60-49 on a Panoske three with just under 11 minutes remaining.
 
From there, Murray went off, making long three's on two of the next three possessions to make it a two-point affair at 63-61. Another three gave NKU its first lead of the night at 66-65, but Johnson responded with a tough lay in through traffic to put UWM back up by one. However, the Norse scored nine of the final 13 points of the contest to escape with the win.
 
The Panthers used a couple of small scoring runs to work their way ahead over the first 20 minutes. The largest lead was 13, coming at the 5:17 mark on a Johnson layup that made it 34-21. The Norse got a few buckets back prior to intermission, with Milwaukee leading 39-32.
 
Panoske got out of the box quickly, scoring six of the first nine points for UWM, which led 9-4. An 8-2 spurt made it 19-13 before NKU pushed back and an Austin Arians three made it 25-16, forcing a Norse timeout at the 8:21 mark.
 
An Arians dunk started a run of six points in a row, helping that lead grow to 13. The Panthers shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) in the first half. They did not even attempt a free throw.
 
Milwaukee ended the night shooting 47.5 percent overall (29-of-61), sinking nearly half of its three's, making 11. It finished with an uncharacteristic 15 turnovers and shot just three free throws on the evening.
 
Johnson recorded 10-or-more assists for the seventh time this season, breaking Marc Mitchell's school record of six set back in 1992-93. His fifth double-double of the points/assists variety this season also ties Mitchell's UWM season record.
 
The Panthers remain on the road and travel to the state of Michigan for a pair of games next week. Up first is a stop at Oakland Thursday, set for a 6 p.m. CST tip.