MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois hit 10 three-pointers in building an insurmountable halftime lead, handing the Milwaukee men's basketball team a 90-69 loss Saturday night at Western Hall.
 
The Panthers (6-4) were playing shorthanded, with Brock Stull not even making the trip and another regular starter under the weather.
 
"That was the difference in the game, especially from the beginning," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "They set the tone, how they wanted to play, and they played harder than us. That is not acceptable from our team. I'll take ownership on it and that's not what you are going to see from us here on out."
 
The Leathernecks (7-2) spent most of the night red-hot from long distance, eventually finishing with 16 3's while shooting 61.5 percent (16-of-26) on their triple attempts.
 
Jeremiah Bell led the offense with 21 points, setting a new season-high for the second straight contest.
 
Jeremy Johnson was also in double-figures, netting 10 points and grabbing five rebounds.
 
Kobe Webster led WIU with 21 points, one of five players in double-figures on the night, helping the team improve to 6-1 at home this season. Brandon Gilbeck had a double-double of 17 points and 13 boards.
 
"There were a lot of defensive breakdowns, things that we went over during our walk-through in preparation for this game that let us down and just weren't there for us tonight," Baldwin said.
 
Up 28 at the break, the Leathernecks kept firing, with a deep, desperation 3 at the shot clock buzzer going in to make it 62-29. The lead grew to 71-36 with just under 15 minutes to play.
 
The Panthers never gave in, however, battling back to down 21, but simply ran out of time down the stretch.
 
The first half started rough and got uglier from there. Western Illinois jumped ahead after making four 3's to extend its advantage to 14-4, forcing a UWM timeout in the process.
 
Bell had a quick answer, swishing three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to force the Leathernecks to take a timeout as well at 14-10.
 
That was as close as the Panthers could pull in the opening 20 minutes, as the long-distance shooting of the Leathernecks would not cool down. By half, the home team had connected on 10 triples – on 16 attempts – to build a 53-25 advantage.
 
Milwaukee shot 39.7 percent (27-of-68) from the floor for the night. The Leathernecks, one of the best-shooting teams in the NCAA (28^th coming in), finished at 58.5 percent (31-of-53).
 
The stretch of five of six away from home ends Wednesday, with the Panthers headed to Tennessee to take on Belmont. That contest is set for a 6:30 p.m. tip. From there, it's a four-game homestand, starting with Loyola December 16.