MILWAUKEE - Bryce Barnes scored 19 points in just 19 minutes to lead the Milwaukee men's basketball team to an 83-73 victory over La Crosse Friday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"La Crosse came in very well-prepared, extremely tough," Milwaukee head coach Pat Baldwin said. "This was a great test for us early. It really gives us great film for us to go into our next game, because there are things we need to fix."
 
The Panthers (1-0) shot over 60 percent from the floor against the Eagles (0-1), building a lead to as many as 19 in the second half to give Baldwin his first victory in his debut as a head coach. The lead was still 16 with just over four minutes to play before closing at 10.
 
"Overall, if you look at the game, I was pleased with us offensively to put up 83 points," Baldwin said. "And to have the balance that we did from an offensive standpoint is really good."
 
Barnes was impressive, making 6-of-7 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line in netting his career-high in points, with the 19 topping the high of 14 he scored at DePaul last season.
 
"Overall, I am happy," Baldwin said. "I told our guys we are just concentrating on one game and now we are 1-0. I told the guys to enjoy this one and then we are back to 0-0 again and trying to go 1-0 against our next opponent."
 
All five starters scored in double-figures for UWM, with Brock Stull and Jeremy Johnson (5-7 FG) each finishing with 13 and Bryce Nze and Brett Prahl each contributing 10 points. Nze just missed a double-double with a team-high nine rebounds, with him and Prahl combining to go 8-of-14 from the floor.
 
That helped lead to a sizable 42-24 advantage in the paint for the Panthers, who also outrebounded UWL, 33-24.
 
Ben Meinholz led three La Crosse players with 19 points, adding eight rebounds and five assists.
 
Back and forth from the start, Meinholz's layup at the midway point of the first half put UWL up, 20-19. A few minutes later, a three by Brendon Manning had the visitors back ahead again at 26-25.
 
A three from Stull stemmed the tide and started a nice run for Milwaukee. Another triple from Stull a few minutes later capped a 12-2 run and gave the Panthers the 37-28 advantage.
 
The score was 44-34 with just over a minute to play before a flurry of points gave UWM the 51-37 advantage at the break. A big chunk of it came from Barnes, who netted a pair of free throws and a three-point play just in front of the halftime horn.
 
Milwaukee then scored nine of the first 14 points of the second – including a Barnes' 3 – to grab the biggest lead of the day at 60-41 at the first media timeout of the second half.
 
UWM ended the night at 62.5 percent (30-of-48) from the floor, making eight 3's. La Crosse finished at 44.4 percent (28-of-63).
 
Up next, the Panthers start the road schedule with a test, heading to Iowa to take on Iowa State on Monday. Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Ames, Iowa.