The Milwaukee men's basketball team will play just its second home game in the past 26 days, welcoming former Horizon League foe Loyola to UWM Panther Arena Saturday for a matinee affair. The contest, set to tip at 1 p.m., will be featured on FOX Sports Wisconsin with Bob Brainerd and Justin Lettenberger on the call. The theme of the contest is "Star Wars" as the Panthers battle the Ramblers. The matchup will have live statistics and will also be carried on WISN AM 1130 with Scott Warras on the call, with all links on the UWM website.

There will be numerous promotions surrounding the "Star Wars" contest. There will be an "All-Fan Star Wars Bobblehead" to the first 1,000 fans, with Pounce showing off his Jedi skills. Also, any fans wearing Star Wars gear will get in for the group ticket price. Lastly, fans can buy-one/get-one free on tickets with a toy donation, with all donations going to the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

LOOKING AT THE RAMBLERS
The Ramblers enter Saturday at 10-1, their best start since opening the 1965-66 season with 10 wins in their first 11 contests. The team is ranked No. 3 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll and has a signature victory on its resume - a 65-59 road win over No. 5 Florida Dec. 6. The Ramblers shoot 53.4 percent from the floor as a team, highlighted by a school-record 71.4 percent (25-for-35) in an 80-52 victory over Norfolk State last Saturday. Four players average double-figures, paced by Aundre Jackson at 14.1 points-per-game (on .688 FG shooting). Clayton Custer (currently injured) and Donte Ingram are next at 12.5 ppg.

Seventh-year head coach Porter Moser guided the Ramblers to an 18-win season a year ago, their best finish in the Missouri Valley Conference standings since joining the league. He stands one win away from 100 at Loyola.

SERIES HISTORY
Plenty of contests have been played in the all-time series, with the Ramblers formerly in the Horizon League. The Panthers do lead the series - with games dating back to 1924 - at a 30-22 count. The NCAA DI total sees UWM ahead, 28-16. However, the Ramblers do hold the upper hand of late, having claimed wins in three of the past four.

LAST GAME
Amanze Egekeze scored a career-high 32 points to lead Belmont to an 82-63 victory over the Milwaukee men's basketball team Wednesday night at Curb Event Center.
 
The Panthers (6-5) had the game tied late in the first, but a 12-2 scoring run by the Bruins (6-5) spanning both halves gave the home team some separation. Milwaukee drew back within six points in the second half, but could get no closer.
 
Jeremiah Bell led the offense for the third game in a row, finishing with 20 points.
 
Bryce Barnes and Brett Prahl each had nine. Bryce Nze chipped in seven points and added a team-best eight rebounds.

PUTTING TOGETHER A NICE TURNAROUND
At 6-5, the Panthers are off to a better start than just one year ago. With six victories already under their belts just a few days after the calendar turned to December, first-year head coach Pat Baldwin has the team on a nice pace compared to just 12 months ago. Last season, UWM did not record its sixth win of the campaign until January 20 and did not get its second true road win of the season until January 27 (also ending with just two). With three road wins already on the books in 2017-18, that mark has been topped easily.

JOINING THE FOX FAMILY
The Panthers made their FOX Sports Wisconsin debut against Montana State Dec. 2, the first of four men's contests which will be broadcast live on the statewide network. The Milwaukee Athletic Department announced the new agreement back in September. The agreement calls for a minimum of five games to be aired this season, with the potential for more in future years of the deal. Each of the selected games will also be available to watch on the FOX Sports GO app on Apple, Android or Windows mobile devices.
 
Rush Media Company will handle production of all the games, with a distribution agreement in place with FOX Sports Wisconsin for the airing of the contests. FOX Sports Wisconsin is an affiliate of FOX Sports and the television home to the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks. The regional sports network also televises select college and high school sports and nearly 2,600 hours of locally produced programming every year. The network reaches more than 1.5 million homes statewide and provides live streaming content via the FOX Sports GO app.

DEEE-FENSE!
Prior to the game against Western Illinois Dec. 9, the Panthers had done a nice job of late keeping teams well below their offensive scoring averages. Northern Illinois came into the game Nov. 29 averaging 79.5 points; Milwaukee limited the Huskies to 62. Montana State was at 82.0 ppg coming in, the UWM defense allowed just 68. Against Jacksonville Dec. 5, the Panthers held their opponent to 52 points. Coming into the game, the Dolphins had averaged 74.1 ppg.

DOLPHIN TALE FOR BELL
Jeremiah Bell helped Milwaukee to a road win at Jacksonville Dec. 5, contributing a season-high 14 points to lead the Panthers in scoring. He played 27 minutes, finishing 4-4 from the FT line while adding a pair of 3's and 2 rebounds.

Bell followed that up with a season-best 21 points against Western Illinois Dec. 9, the second 20-plus point outing of his UWM career. Just a few days later, he led the team with 20 points against Belmont Dec. 13, becoming the first Panther to record back-to-back games of 20-plus points since Brock Stull did so at the end of last season (21 vs. Oakland in regular-season finale and 20 against Detroit Mercy in postseason opener).

SUNSHINE STATE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Bryce Nze put together one of the more complete games of his young UWM career against Jacksonville Dec. 5, finishing with his third double-double as a Panther in the process. Nze's line included 13 points, 12 rebounds (tied career high), 5 assists (tie), 4 blocks (new career-best) and a steal against the Dolphins. He now has two of the three double-doubles recorded by UWM players so far this season.

PRAHL STANDS TALL
Brett Prahl put together a brilliant outing against Northern Illinois Nov. 29, helping the Panthers to a 75-62 road win with a personally unprecedented effort. The 18 points he scored - coming on 7-8 shooting from the floor - tied his career high he set last season in a game against Youngstown State Jan. 17. The 10 rebounds, just off his career-high of 11, gave him something else for the first time - the first double-double of his collegiate career. He added two blocks and a steal against the Huskies, playing a career-high 35 minutes on the night.

He was at it again just a few days later, netting 18 more points against Montana State Dec. 2.

THE WARREN REPORT
Carson Warren-Newsome made the most of his opportunity against the Huskies Nov. 29, putting together his best game of the season when he was given the chance to see 15 minutes of action at NIU. Coming into the game, Warren-Newsome had netted 7 points in 28 minutes so far in 2017-18, but he went off for 11 points in the game, highlighted by a 3-of-4 effort from long distance. The freshman added three rebounds, an assist, block and a steal on the night.

IT'S OUR BALL
Milwaukee proved adept at ball control last season, finishing second in the Horizon League at just over 12 turnovers per game and in the top 80 in the NCAA. The team has picked up right where it left off in 2017-18. In addition to a game of just five miscues against Elon Nov. 19 (1 off the school record), the Panthers entered play this week committing only 13.1 turnovers per game, good for second in the Horizon League.

BALDWIN HOT OUT OF THE GATES
Milwaukee was 4-1 through five games, giving Pat Baldwin the best five-game start to a UWM head coaching career in the NCAA Division I history of the program. Going back through time (LaVall Jordan 2-3; Rob Jeter 3-2; Bruce Pearl 2-3; Bo Ryan 3-2; Ric Cobb 2-3; Steve Antrim 1-4), only Jeter and Ryan even reached three victories through their first five games.

It also marked the best five-game start since the Panthers went 5-0 to open the 2004-05 campaign. At 4-1, the start equaled the five-game marks of 2015-16, 2013-14 and 2011-12.

HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES
After establishing a new program record for field-goal percentage in a season as a junior a year ago (.664), Brett Prahl had seemingly gotten better. In his first four outings this season (including the two exhibition contests), he missed just three shots on 23 total attempts. Prahl was 5-5 from the floor against Marquette and then 5-6 against Wisconsin Lutheran in the exhibition season. He then made 5-6 attempts in both the season opener against La Crosse and again in the win at Iowa State, a shooting percentage of 86.9 percent overall in that span (20-of-23). Through 11 games, he now checks in at .686 (48-of-70) from the field, good enough for second place in the Horizon League (Carson Williams of NKU is first at .701 ... they are also the only two over .600). If Prahl met the NCAA minimum for FG percentage (5 made per game), he would rank eighth in the nation.

NEVER COUNT OUT THE PANTHERS
Milwaukee had a tough go of it against Elon in the first half Nov. 19, finding themselves down by as many as 19 points (at 46-27) in the first 20 minutes. The second half was amazing, with Jeremy Johnson capping the impressive turnaround with the winner with 0.9 left on the clock as UWM pulled off the amazing comeback to claim the title trophy in the "Black & Gold Shootout". No UWM team had come back from as many as 19 points for nearly a decade. You have to go all the way back to an 81-75 victory over UC Davis on November 15, 2008. That day, UWM made up a 24-point halftime deficit, trailing 51-27, with 54 points in the second half. In addition to the team title at the three-day event, Bryce Nze, Brock Stull and August Haas were named to the all-tournament team.

NZE KEEPS AT IT
After missing a double-double by a single rebound against both La Crosse Nov. 10 (10 pts/9 reb)and FIU Nov. 18 (17 pts/9 reb), Bryce Nze finally got there against Elon Nov. 19, recording the first double-double for a Panther player this season when he scored 14 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds. It was the second of his career, with his outing at Montana (15 pts/11 reb) Dec. 3 of last season marking his first. The 12 rebounds topped his former collegiate-best of 11, also set in that game last year.

CLAIMING A WIN IN CYCLONE ALLEY
Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum is known as one of the toughest places to play on the road in college basketball, with the home team claiming victory in over 75 percent of its games since 1971. That didn't seem to matter to the Panthers Nov. 13, handing the Cyclones their first loss in a home opener since 1997. Iowa State had won 45 of its last 50 at home coming into the contest, posting an 88-10 mark on its own court the past eight seasons. It was also the first win by an opponent in November at Hilton Coliseum in 16 games.

HARD TO TOP
The Panthers shot an impressive 62.5 percent (30-of-48) from the floor against La Crosse in the season opener. By making nearly 2/3 of their shots, it puts them near the top of the charts, finishing as the sixth-best team performance from the floor in a game in program history. Not only was it the sixth-best outing in any game, but also goes down as the BEST shooting effort as a team in any season opener all-time.

Best Field-Goal Percentage, Single Game
1. 67.8 (40-59) Cleveland State, 2/8/96
2. 65.0 (26-40) UMKC, 11/30/13
3. 63.9 (39-61) Chicago State, 1/19/91
4. 62.8 (27-43) South Dakota State, 12/11/10
5. 62.7 (47-75) Judson, 12/13/15
6. 62.5 (30-48) La Crosse, 11/10/17

SUPER START
Highlighting the victory over La Crosse in the season opener Nov. 10 was the best outing of sophomore Bryce Barnes' young career. He filled up the stat sheet with 19 points in just 19 minutes of playing time, making 6-7 shots from the floor and 6-7 attempts from the line, while adding three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in the win. The 19 points tops his former high-water mark of 14 points, recorded against DePaul early last season (11/20/16). His assist total and made field goals against the Eagles also equaled career-bests.

THE BIG DEBUT
November 10 against La Crosse marked the big day for Pat Baldwin, making his head-coaching debut following four very successful years as an assistant coach at Northwestern. His tenure with the Wildcats culminated in the 2016-17 season with a school-record 24 victories and the first NCAA tournament berth in school history. That followed what was a school-record 20 wins during the 2015-16 campaign. Baldwin also has valuable firsthand experience in the Horizon League, beginning with two seasons as an assistant at Green Bay before a seven-year stop at Loyola Chicago, where he finished as the associate head coach.

AND WE'RE OFF
A couple of different looks to the season opener, which saw Milwaukee playing its opening game of the season at the UWM Panther Arena for the second year in a row after not doing so since a win over SW Minnesota State to kick off the 2011-12 campaign. The team is now 17-11 in season openers since returning to the NCAA Division I ranks full-time in 1990-91 following the 83-73 win over the Eagles. More impressively, the team is 24-4 in that same span in home openers, claiming wins in 17 of the past 18 (13 in a row at one point). Also, the Panthers have not lost the season opener when it was played at home since dropping an 80-79 decision to Platteville in November of 1994 (having won the previous 12 in that scenario).

A WARM WELCOME
In addition to getting to know the players on the roster this season, Pat Baldwin and staff announced the newest signings for next year when Zach Cameron-Chodes, Shae Mitchell, Tyronn Mosley and Fabio Soehnel all signed their NLI Nov. 8. The group become Baldwin's first members of the 2018 recruiting class.

STULL COMES OF AGE
A season ago, Brock Stull emerged as a go-to threat for the Panthers, going on to earn the team's Clay Tucker Most Valuable Player Award after a breakout sophomore campaign in which he led the Panthers in scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg). Stull started all 35 games, shooting 44.4 percent from the floor, 39.3 percent from three-point range and 80.7 percent from the line. That was a big step up from a redshirt freshman year in which he made appearances in 30 games on the season as a key reserve off the bench, contributing 2.6 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

A REAL SHOOTING SHOWCASE
It was a back-and-forth affair all season long, eventually coming down to just hundredths of a percentage point. The Panthers established a program-first, as no team in UWM's NCAA Division I history has ever had two players make 60 percent or better from the floor in a season. The now-former school record of .610 (86-of-141) for the year (minimum of 100 attempts), set by Adrian Tigert back in 2001-02, has been broken.

Brett Prahl holds the new standard at .664, making 99-of-149 attempts on the season. Bryce Nze was just a hair behind, finishing at .662, making 100-of-151 attempts - also finishing as the top two percentages in the Horizon League last season. To realize how close that was, had Brett missed just one of the makes, or had Bryce made just one of his misses, the two would have flip-flopped the final order. Brett is no stranger to the impressive stat, having made an eye-popping 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the floor as a sophomore. The last person to make over 60 percent of their field goal attempts (while averaging at least one FGA per game) was Derrick Ford back in 2005-06, who made shots at a 61.5 percent clip that campaign. It's hard to believe, but the duo actually shot BETTER in league games - Prahl ended at 71.8 percent in the  18 conference affairs, with Nze just behind at 70.0 percent. They ranked one-two in Horizon League play as well.

BROTHER ACT
Speaking of the twins, Brett and Alex Prahl are one set of 29 brothers currently playing together at the NCAA Division I level this season. Of the 29 combinations, just seven are twins and Brett and Alex are the ONLY set of identical duos in the bunch.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY
The Panthers closed out last season with an unprecedented run at Motor City Madness. Milwaukee became the first No. 10 seed to claim a victory in the Horizon League Tournament history (going back to 1994-95). The prior seven No. 10 seeds went 0-7 combined, losing by an average of 15.2 points.

The team is familiar with the underdog role. In 2013-14, the Panthers became the first-ever No. 5 seed to win the Horizon League Tournament. In fact, they followed the same exact path to open both trips. That season, UWM beat Detroit and Valparaiso their first two matchups on the way to the crown. At No. 10, Milwaukee was the lowest seed to ever play in the championship game (prior was Wright State as the No. 8 seed in 1995). The also had the chance to become the lowest-ever seed to win (lowest prior was UIC as the No. 6 seed in 2002).

BUCKLE DOWN
The Panthers knocked off second-seeded Valparaiso at Motor City Madness with the best first-half defensive effort against an NCAA Division I opponent in school history. The 12 points allowed included just five made field goals, as the Panthers also held the Crusaders scoreless for the first 6:59 of the evening. Best marks in school history:
11: Mount Senario, 12/27/00 (NAIA school)
12: Valparaiso, 3/4/17*
13: Texas Southern, 11/20/11

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
Jeremiah Bell had gone five games without scoring in double-figures, but when he did against Detroit Mercy March 3, he did so in near record-breaking fashion. His 31 points were not only a career-high (prior best was 16 on a pair of occasions), but put his name into numerous places in the record book for UWM Horizon League Tournament games.
POINTS: 31
-Tied Joah Tucker's 31 vs. Loyola in 2005
MADE FG'S
-Tied record of 9 set three other times
FG PERCENTAGE
-Broke record with 9-of-10, .900 effort
-This also tied the Horizon League tourney game record (also 9-of-10) set by Terrell Riggs, Detroit vs. Loyola, 2003

In addition, he also became the first Panther to score 30-plus points off the bench since Avery Smith netted 36 against Oakland on December 2, 2006. He joined Brock Stull as just the second-ever UWM sophomore to record over 30 points in a game. Combined with Brock Stull's 20-point effort, it gave UWM two players with 20-or-more in one contest for the first time in 43 games.

THAT'S 30 FOR #3
Brock Stull came up with a little history against UIC Feb. 4 when he scored a career-high 30 points. For starters, it was the first 30-point effort for UWM in 42 games (Akeem Springs last had 33 at Youngstown State on Jan. 7, 2016), propelling the team to its first 100-point outburst in 47 tries (had 125 against Judson Dec. 13, 2015 ... it was also the first time an opponent hit 100 in 272 games). Most significantly, it marked the first time in UWM's NCAA Division I history that a sophomore scored at least 30 points in a game - a span of 801 contests.

BROCK OF AGES
Brock Stull just kept grabbing rebounds against Detroit Mercy Jan. 27. When the game finally ended, not only did he break his former career-high of 11, but finished with 17 to just miss the school record of 18 boards in the process. Matt Tiby was the last to grab as many as 17, doing so against South Dakota back in December of 2015. The program mark of 18 is held by Nathan Schrameyer and was set against SEMO on March 2, 1995.

BULLSEYE FOR JOHNSON
Jeremy Johnson posted one of the best free-throw shooting seasons in school history a year ago. The then-redshirt freshman finished the campaign at an impressive .846 this year, missing just eight tries out of 52 attempts. The school record (minimum is 40 attempts) belongs to Pat Easterlin, who connected on 87.0 of his charity stripe tosses (40-of-46) back in 1993-94. Johnson was above 90 percent until well after midseason, eventually settling for the fifth-best percentage from the charity stripe in school history.

HIS TURN
Brett Prahl seized the opportunity he received with increased playing time during the 2016-17 season. Coming into the year, he had per-game averages of 1.8 points and 1.0 rebounds per game (while averaging 6.2 minutes played). He finished the year with averages of 7.2 ppg and 3.6 rpg (in 19.8 mpg), which he upped to 8.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest in Horizon League play.

OH WHAT A NIGHT
Just a freshman at the time, Bryce Nze finished the night against UIC Jan. 17 at 10-of-12 from the floor, an .833 clip that checked in as the third-best shooting percentage in a single game in program history.
1. .846 (11-13) Adrian Tigert 3/18/06
2. .846 (11-13) Dylan Page, 2/1/03
3. .833 (10-12) Nze

In addition, his 22-point outburst not only set a season-high for the newcomer, but marked the first outing of 20-or-more points for a UWM freshman since nearly before Nze was born in 1998. The 22 points is the most since Clay Tucker scored 23 (also against UIC) back on February 12, 2000. Tucker had five games of 20-plus points that season, topped by a 24-point showing in the season opener against Central Michigan (11/20/99) - a game that included a Tucker 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the game for Milwaukee.

PRAHL ON THE PROWL
Not to be outdone, Brett Prahl actually topped them all, making 90 percent (9-of-10) of his field goal attempts in the win over Youngstown State Jan. 22. (the school-record for FG% in a game carries a minimum of 10 makes). Prahl's 18 points helped him set a career-high for the third time last season and included an offensive rebound and reverse lay-in with 2.5 seconds left that tied the game at the end of regulation and forced overtime.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS
Bryce Nze needed to get accustomed to the college game, last playing on a regular basis as a high school junior following an injury that cost him his senior season. While foul trouble was tough to avoid early in the year, rebounding at an impressive level all season long was not. He was the team's leading rebounder on 12 occasions last year - the most for a UWM freshman since Adrian Tigert accomplished the feat seven times in 2001-02. Nze also grabbed a career-high 11 boards at Montana Dec. 3 - Tony Meier was the last freshmen to grab 10-or-more rebounds in a game, doing so three times during the 2008-09 campaign.

GETTING IT DONE QUICKLY
Bryce Nze recorded the first double-double of his career against Montana Dec. 3 of last season, posting 15 points and 11 rebounds in just the eighth game of his UWM debut campaign. It's a noteworthy effort, marking the first double-double for a UWM freshman since Tony Meier had 17 points and 16 rebounds against UIC almost eight years ago (Jan. 31, 2009). Meier also had a double-double in his collegiate debut, finishing with 14 points and 12 boards against Loyola Marymount Nov. 14, 2008.

ONE OF THE BEST EVER
The showing by the Milwaukee defense against UC Irvine Nov. 26 of last season goes into the record book in numerous spots. The 37 points allowed rank as the lowest ever allowed to an NCAA Division I opponent, with only the 21 scored in December of 2000 by Mount Senario - an NAIA opponent - coming in ahead of it. The last time UWM held an opponent under 40 points came 143 games ago (see list below).
21: Mount Senario, 12/27/00
37: UC Irvine, 11/26/16
38: Wright State, 1/12/12
38: Texas Southern, 11/20/11

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
Had the Anteaters not found a way to make two of their final three field goals of the game Nov. 26, a couple other marks could have fallen. UC Irvine ended the contest with 11 made field goals and a 25.6 percent mark from the floor, with each total marking a new entry in the all-time top five.

FEWEST FIELD GOALS MADE
7: Mount Senario, 12/27/00
10: Detroit, 1/9/97
11: UC Irvine, 11/26/16
14: Two times

LOWEST OPP. FIELD GOAL %
.189 (7-37): Mount Senario, 12/27/00
.215 (14-65): UIC, 2/17/96
.245 (12-49): YSU, 1/7/08
.256 (11-43): UC Irvine, 11/26/16

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 nine passes in 12 games (6 starts) for 85 yards and a touchdown this season. In fact, last year, he set career highs with 11 starts, 17 catches and 123 yards. 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.

IT'S OUR HOUSE
Although the building is not new and has been the site to many historic basketball moments in Milwaukee history, this is UWM's fourth 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 close out the non-league portion of the schedule with a contest against Western Michigan Friday at home. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.