MILWAUKEE – Youngstown State found its shooting touch in the second half on its way to a 76-51 victory over the Milwaukee men's basketball team Saturday at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (6-10, 1-2 Horizon League) never could get going against the Penguins (5-12, 1-3 Horizon League) trailing by 10 at the break before the visitors pulled away in the second half.
 
Darius Roy led Milwaukee with 11 points, adding four rebounds and three assists.
 
Jamar Madge chipped in a season-high nine points, all coming on three-pointers.
 
Garrett Covington paced YSU with 15 points.
 
Up 10 at the break, Youngstown State found its shooting touch after Milwaukee held them to just 30 percent from the floor in the first half. They scored the first seven of the period to force a timeout but eventually built their advantage to as many as 21 points at 36-15.
 
"The most disappointing thing is we let offense dictate what we did on the defensive end," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "That's the most disappointing thing. What we tried to tell our guys going into halftime is, even though we couldn't score, we couldn't put the ball in the basket, is we still defended them and they only shot 30 percent. That should have been something we took away from the first half and helped us get into the second half."
 
The Panthers gave the comeback a shot, with Madge connecting on three-pointers on three straight possessions to cut the margin to 12 at 36-24. However, that would be as close as Milwaukee would get the rest of the way.
 
It was a rough first half from the field for the Panthers, but a lockdown defensive effort kept it relatively close on the scoreboard. Milwaukee was ice-cold from the floor, shooting just over 20 percent over the first 20 minutes. On the other end, the team held YSU to 30 percent shooting, including a 4-for-21 showing from long range, to lead by 10 at intermission.
 
Up next, the Panthers hit the road for the first Horizon League away games of the season, traveling to Michigan to take on Oakland and Detroit Mercy. First up is the Golden Grizzlies Thursday, set for a 6 p.m. CST tip.