The Milwaukee men's basketball team is ready for its rematch with North Dakota, finishing up the first in-season home-and-home non-conference series for the program in 16 years Sunday afternoon. The contest against the Fighting Hawks will be available on FOX Sports Wisconsin Plus (it airs on FOX Sports North in Grand Forks, N.D.) as well as ESPN+, with Kyle Doperalski and Val Sussex calling the action starting at 3 p.m. The rematch of the Nov. 10 affair will have live statistics available and will be carried on WISN AM 1130 with Scott Warras on the call. All links are posted on the MKE website.

LOOKING AT THE FIGHTING HAWKS
In its first season as a member of the Summit League, North Dakota entered with strong expectations and No. 7 in the preseason poll. This comes off the heels of a 12-20 season a year ago. UND welcomed back a pair of seniors who lead the Fighting Hawks on-and-off court in Cortez Seales and Conner Avants. In his first season in a starting role, Seales averaged a career-high 10.7 points per game and reached double figures on 15 occasions. Meanwhile, Avants established career highs in points per game (11.6), rebounds per game (6.0), and field goal percentage (56.9). The team enters play Sunday with a 4-5 overall mark, having lost four in a row following a successful 4-1 ledger through the first five games. Seales (12.8 ppg) and Avant (11.6 ppg/team-best 6.0 rpg) do lead the way offensively, with Avants connecting on 65 percent (40-of-61) of his field-goals.

SERIES HISTORY
The contest on Nov. 10 was actually the first between the two schools in Milwaukee's NCAA DI history (MKE fell, 63-60). All-time, North Dakota now leads, 3-1, in a series that previously dated between 1975 and 1987. The last game between the two before this season was a 77-70 Panther victory (at home) on Dec. 4, 1987.

LAST GAME
Drake scored the final 10 points of the first half to take control and fended off any comeback attempts from the Milwaukee basketball team in the second half to claim a 75-61 victory Thursday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (3-7) were unable to take advantage of a quick start against the Bulldogs (6-1), holding their last lead with 8:33 left in the first half.
 
Darius Roy led the way with 19 points, hitting 5-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Vance Johnson contributed 12 points and eight rebounds, while DeAndre Abram was also in double-figures with 12 points, also adding eight boards.

NOT UNPRECEDENTED
It has been quite some time since the Panthers have played a home-and-home in the same season against someone outside of the Horizon League, which is what they will be doing against North Dakota when the road game gets played Dec. 9. While pretty rare in the schedule, it is not unprecedented - the last occasion was back in 2002-03, when the Panthers and Mississippi Valley State battled on a pair of occasions, with MKE coming out on top both times (77-75 home/83-75 away).

PART I: BACK IN NOVEMBER
The Milwaukee men's basketball team nearly erased a nine-point deficit over the final 85 seconds, coming up one make short in a tough 63-60 loss to North Dakota Nov. 10 at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (0-2) made a furious charge late against the Fighting Hawks (2-0), nearly sending the game to overtime. They had a good look, but a potential game-tying three didn't go in with four seconds remaining.  
 
Darius Roy led the way with a game-high 18 points. He added six assists, four steals and three rebounds to fill up the stat sheet. DeAndre Abram recorded his second career double-double, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Vance Johnson contributed 13 points and eight boards. Carson Warren-Newsome finished with 12 points – all coming on 3's late in the game in a span of less than 90 seconds on the clock on four straight possessions – to help jumpstart the comeback effort after falling behind by as many as 15 in the second half.

BACK ON THE FOX FAMILY
The Panthers made their FOX Sports Wisconsin debut against Drake Dec. 6, the first of four men's home contests which will be broadcast live on the statewide network (road games at North Dakota - on FOX Sports Wisconsin Plus - and Northern Kentucky will also air). The Milwaukee Athletic Department announced the new agreement back last year. The agreement again calls for a minimum of five games to be aired this year, with the potential for more in future years of the deal.
 
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.

A DASH OF JAMAR
Freshman Jamar Madge made the most of his opportunities in Northern Ireland, seeing valuable time on the court after limited minutes over his first three appearances. In 13 minutes against nationally-ranked Buffalo Nov. 30, Madge scored the first five points of his college career, going 3-for-3 from the line while adding three rebounds. The next day against Stephen F. Austin, he netted four points - including his first 3-pointer of the year - in seven minutes on the court.

INSTANT OFFENSE
Not only did Jake Wright go off for a career-high 23 points in the win against Albany Nov. 23, but he opened the night scoring the first 12 points on 3's, sinking a total of 5 triples while Milwaukee raced off to a 19-9 start on the scoreboard. That topped his former career-best of 22 points set against IPFW (12/9/17). It also equaled his career mark of seven made 3's in a game, something the sharpshooter has accomplished two other times in his collegiate career - but hasn't been done by a Panther since Jordan Aaron made seven against UMKC back in November of 2013 (33 points/7-of-10 3FG's). It also marked the most 3's in a single night for a Panther since Avery Smith connected on eight (8-of-12) in his 36-point performance against Oakland back on Dec. 2, 2006.

SOPHOMORE SURGE
Carson Warren-Newsome continues to be a bright spot in the early-season offense. In the home opener against North Dakota Nov. 10, he finished with 12 points - all coming in a 92-second span in the second half when he buried four straight 3-pointers. Against FIU Nov. 13, he chipped in 10 points and added a career-high 7 rebounds. Then, at Cincinnati Nov. 16, Warren-Newsome got the call in the starting lineup and put together the best outing of his young collegiate career - finishing with a career-high 18 points (topping the 16 he scored against Green Bay last season) while adding six rebounds and a career-best 7 assists. He finished 4-for-4 from long range against the Bearcats.

He waited all of one game to top that, going for another new career high against LIU Brooklyn Nov. 20. He finished that night with 21 points, making 5-of-8 field goals - including a game-tying circus layup following a steal to force overtime with just 13.8 seconds remaining - and 11-of-12 from the free throw line.

A trip of 3,600 miles didn't slow Warren-Newsome down either, as he reset his career-high for a third time this season against #21/#20 Buffalo Nov. 30, filling it up for 26 points off the bench. He finished 9-of-18 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line, adding four rebounds and a pair of steals. He nearly became just the second Panther to score 30-or-more points off the bench in the past 12 years.

FOWL SHOTS
The Panthers opened up the week of Thanksgiving with a steady trip to the foul line against LIU Brooklyn Nov. 20, finishing the night with a hefty 33 makes in 41 attempts from the charity stripe. That impressive effort marked a tie for the seventh-most made free throws in a game in school history, with the 41 tries tied for ninth. The last time a Panther team made more than 33 was against Loyola (34 on 3/3/09) and the last time more were attempted was against Central Michigan (42 on 12/19/07). Most impressive? The team went a perfect 10-for-10 from the line in the overtime period.

Despite the loss to Drake Dec. 6, the Panthers did manage to make an impressive 21-of-24 free throw attempts (87.5 percent), including 17-of-18 in the second half. That marks the best percentage for the team in a game with more than 20 makes from the free throw line since connecting on 20-of-21 (95.2 percent) in a season-opening 71-58 victory against Denver back on Nov. 13, 2015.

QUICK READJUSTMENT
Darius Roy set a new career-high in points scored for the fourth time in the first five games of the year when he poured in 27 against LIU Brooklyn Nov. 20. Roy played at the NCAA Division I level as a freshman, so the level of competition is nothing new to him. However, his transition back into it has been pretty seamless - leading the team in scoring in each of the first three games of 2018-19 (and now five times overall) while resetting his NCAA-highs in points scored each time. He did it again against the Blackbirds, going 7-of-11 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the line. His prior best coming into 2018-19 as a freshman was 9 points against Oglethorpe back on Dec. 7, 2016. In his debut in the opener at Boston College Nov. 6, Roy led the way with 15. In the home opener against North Dakota Nov. 10, Roy poured in 18 and added six assists and four steals. He then topped that with 19 points at FIU Nov. 13.

A CHANCE FOR FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The roster features 15 players overall, with only Bryce Barnes, Vance Johnson, Carson Warren-Newsome and Tyler Behrendt on the active roster a year ago (DeAndre Abram was also on the roster, but was sitting out due to transfer regulations). So, the newcomers will have plenty of opportunity to shine in 2018-19. A look at the numbers shows the team will be among the least-experienced, in terms of NCAA DI action, in the country.

FEWEST RETURNING LETTERWINNERS
1 - Chattanooga
2 - UNC Asheville
2 - Drake
3 - MILWAUKEE
3 - Nicholls
3 - Duquesne
3 - Baylor
3 - Detroit Mercy
3 - Little Rock

FEWEST RETURNING MINUTES
7.0% - Mount Saint Mary's
7.9% - UNC Asheville
10.6% - Idaho
11.2% - Wichita State
15.2% - Middle Tennessee
15.2% - Chattanooga
16.5% - Oakland
17.4% - Drake
23.2% - Detroit Mercy
23.7% - MILWAUKEE
26.3% - Nicholls

WIL THE THRIL
Wil Sessoms showed off his potential at FIU Nov. 13, putting in a very productive output on the court. Once he subbed into the game, he sparked the Panthers to a halftime lead with nine points and four rebounds in just seven minutes prior to intermission. His line at the end of the night yielded a near double-double, finishing with 17 points/9 rebounds, shooting an efficient 7-of-9 from the floor and doing it all in just 16 minutes of playing time.

He posted a similar line against LIU Brooklyn Nov. 20, finishing with 13 points and 9 boards in 24 minutes of play (5-of-9 from the floor).

DeANDRE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
It didn't take long for DeAndre Abram to record his first double-double as a Panther, scoring 12 points and grabbing a dozen rebounds against North Dakota in the home opener Nov. 10. It also marked the second of his career, with his first coming in a 27 point/10 rebound outing against Wagner back on Dec. 22, 2015.

At two games, Abram's statline is the quickest double-double for an MKE newcomer since James Haarsma went for 15 points and 12 rebounds in his second game in uniform back in the 2011-12 campaign (vs. Northern Illinois, Nov. 14, 2011).

He followed that up with another in his third outing, going for 11 points and 15 rebounds against FIU Nov. 13. He was at it again against Albany Nov. 23, posting a 13 points/12 rebound effort.
 
AND WE'RE OFF
A couple of different looks to the season opener, which saw Milwaukee playing its opening game of the season on the road for the first time in three years. The team is now 17-12 in season openers since returning to the NCAA Division I ranks full-time in 1990-91 following the loss to Boston College (a victory over La Crosse a year ago had marked three in a row in season openers). In all, the team has now posted a 4-11 mark in season openers played away from home. More impressively, the Panthers are 24-4 in that same span in home openers, claiming wins in 17 of the past 18 (13 in a row at one point).

MORE TV TIME
The Milwaukee Athletic Department announced a partnership with My24 Sports to air games during the 2018-19 Milwaukee basketball season.

WVTV My24 Milwaukee provides entertainment programming and local sports broadcasts in Milwaukee and nearby communities. The Panthers are now part of a My24 Sports lineup that includes the Milwaukee Admirals and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The partnership will allow My24 Sports to carry four select Milwaukee Panthers games live starting November 10th with the men's home opener against North Dakota that wrapped up Homecoming Week festivities. The other men's game will be Jan. 5 vs. Youngstown State.

AA ON HIS WAY
In his first game as a Panther, Amir Allen finished a basket short of a double-double (8 points) while collecting a team-high 11 rebounds. While Brock Stull was able to collect 10-plus rebounds in the opener two years ago (against MSOE), Allen's performance was the first outing of 10-or-more boards against an NCAA DI opponent in the season opener since Matt Tiby had 12 against Denver to open the slate in 2015-16. Allen is also the first Panthers to grab double-digit rebounds in his MKE debut since James Haarsma went for 17 in his first game in a Milwaukee uniform against Southwest Minnesota State November 12 of 2011.

BALDWIN'S YEAR-ONE RESUME
In his first season on the bench, Pat Baldwin led the Panthers to 16 victories, an improvement of five wins over the prior season while also finishing four spots higher in the final Horizon League regular season standings.

Included in that record was an impressive 17-point (73-56) victory over a Loyola Chicago team that finished the season ranked No. 7 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll, advanced to the Final Four and posted 32 wins including contests over No. 5 Florida, No. 13 Tennessee, No. 22 Miami and No. 24 Nevada. MKE also handed Iowa State its first loss in a home opener in 20 years when it upended the Cyclones, 74-56, in Baldwin's second official game as head coach.

In the classroom, the team was honored as part of the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Awards for outstanding academic achievement. Milwaukee was one of just 35 men's basketball programs recognized nationwide and the only member of the Horizon League on the list after posting a perfect 1,000 four-year rate.

Five different school records were set over the course of the campaign, with Milwaukee advancing to the semifinals at Motor City Madness - the only league school to advance that far in each of the past two seasons.

THE PRICE IS WRIGHT
Newcomer Jake Wright brings plenty of experience at the NCAA Division I level, having spent two seasons at Miami (Ohio) after playing his freshman campaign at the Citadel. He brings a resume into the year that included 92 career games played (29 starts), 714 points and 192 made 3-pointers.

A deeper look shows Wright essentially serving as the senior DI member of the roster: In fact, in comparison, the three returning players for MKE (Bryce Barnes, Vance Johnson and Carson Warren-Newsome) had combined career totals of 127 games played, 35 starts, 275 rebounds and 667 points coming into the new campaign.

SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE
Sitting at 8.7 points-per-game early in the season, Jake Wright can get to within striking distance of reaching the 1,000-point barrier in his college career. He heads into Sunday at 792.

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
Courtney Brown, Jr., of Woodbury, Minnesota and C.J. Wilbourn of Normal, Ill., signed their National Letters of Intent.

Brown is a senior East Ridge High School in Woodbury, Minn. He is coming off a junior campaign in which he scored 21.5 points-per-game (537 total) while leading the team to a 21-5 record. That comes off a sophomore season in which he tallied 19.6 a game. He chipped in 10 ppg as a freshman for the Raptors.
 
Wilbourn, a 6-foot-7 forward from Normal Community High School in Normal, Ill., averaged 11.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season. He hit 50 percent of his field-goal attempts, which included close to 40 percent from three-point range. He heads into a senior campaign that will be his third as a starter and fourth on the varsity. He added 28 blocks and 1.6 assists-per-game a year ago.

DEANDRE SET TO SOAR
After sitting out last season after transferring into the program, DeAndre Abram is set to embark on his Panther career. A veteran of two seasons at the NCAA Division I level with George Mason, Abram has scored 20 or more points in his NCAA career on a pair of occasions, with his collegiate-best coming when he piled up a double-double of 27 points and 10 rebounds against Wagner back in December of 2015. He entered 2018-19 with per-game averages of 5.9 points and 2.7 rebounds, making 14 starts in 41 games and had collected 112 rebounds and scored 242 points over his first two seasons. He filled the stat sheet with 15 points, 7 boards and 4 blocks in the exhibition and followed that with 9 points and 8 boards in the season opener at Boston College.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Newcomer Bobby Arthur-Williams brings along quite the resume from his time in junior college. A year ago, he averaged 17.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla. He posted 20 double-doubles on the season, including 14 in his final 16 appearances overall.

PUSHING THE PACE
Head coach Pat Baldwin spoke at preseason media day about his desire to see his team push the ball offensively, with thoughts of possibly hitting the 100-point mark on a more regular basis a possibility. That may have been music to newcomer Darius Roy's ears, as he directed an offense last season at Connors State College in Warner, Oklahoma, that put up 90.3 points-per-game. He led the nationally-ranked Cowboys to a 31-4 record and an appearance in the Elite Eight of the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament after earning the No. 12 national seed in the event. Roy started all 35 games, averaging 12.8 points, 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting 48 percent from the floor, 41 percent from three-point range and 76 percent from the free throw line. He led the Panthers with 22 points off the bench in the exhibition win over CUW.

A DENT IN THE RECORD BOOK
Five different school records were set a year ago. Individual marks included career field-goal shooting percentage (Brett Prahl at .638 [261-409]) as well as a trio of rebounding marks set by Bryce Nze (season total, season average and offensive total). In addition to the solo efforts, the Panthers set a new program mark with 125 blocked shots - eclipsing the former mark of 118 set back in 2003-04. The squad also came within striking distance of a few others, finishing sixth in field goals made at 834 (record is 879) and fifth in field goals attempts at 1872 (1950).

GETTING TO 70
When the offense hit the 70-point barrier a season ago, the results were very positive at 11-5. Hitting shots always helps too, with the Panthers finishing 14-4 in games in which they shot 45 percent or better from the floor. A lead at the half proved just as valuable, with the Panthers posting a very solid 13-3 ledger when leading at intermission last season.

VANCE CAME TO PLAY
Vance Johnson continued to adjust to the NCAA Division I level a season ago, putting together his best outing of the season against Oakland Dec. 28. In just 14 minutes off the bench, he netted a season-best 10 points while tying a season-high with 6 rebounds. He made 4-of-5 shots from the floor and also blocked a pair of shots.

He improved on that in the win at Cleveland State Jan. 6. Starting for the third game in a row, Johnson established a new season high in both points with 11 and rebounds with 8. He went 7-10 from the free throw line and played a season-high 22 minutes as well.

PANTHERS NOW ON DEMAND
The Panthers now have their own channel on the iHeartRadio platform. This gives fans the opportunity to listen to podcasts of Panther games that have been played, as well as podcasts of the "Panther Sports Report" after they are aired. It allows fans of Milwaukee basketball the opportunity to listen to these events on demand. The channel can be accessed at the following address:
www.iheart.com/podcast/uw-milwaukee-mens-basketball-28721732/

RAMBLING ON
The Panthers put on quite an impressive performance in the victory over Loyola Dec. 16 last season, claiming a 17-point win over a team that came into the game with a 10-1 record, ranked No. 3 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll that week and had just beaten No. 5 Florida earlier that month.

The defense limited the Ramblers to 38.5 percent (20-of-52) from the floor overall, and just 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from distance to a team that came in as one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country at 44.6 percent.

NEVER COUNT OUT THE PANTHERS
Milwaukee had a tough go of it against Elon in the first half Nov. 19 of last season, 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 Milwaukee pulled off the amazing comeback to claim the title trophy in the "Black & Gold Shootout". No MKE 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, the Panthers made up a 24-point halftime deficit, trailing 51-27, with 54 points in the second half.

BALDWIN MADE IT LOOK EASY
A season ago, Milwaukee was 4-1 through five games, giving Pat Baldwin the best five-game start to an MKE 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'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 five passes in nine games (1 start) for 94 yards and two touchdowns this season. In fact, this is his fifth campaign with the Chiefs, having made 30 starts in 56 games over his first four seasons. Coming into 2018, Harris had caught 45 passes for 441 yards, including three touchdowns. 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. The 6-foot-7 Harris made his NFL debut when he 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 Milwaukee's fifth 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
Milwaukee remains on the road and travels to UMKC next. The Panthers and the Kangaroos are set to tip at 6 p.m. Dec. 13.