MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team used a 22-4 scoring run just after halftime to take control and record a 61-52 victory over Kansas City Friday night at UWM Panther Arena.
Te'Jon Lucas flirted with a triple-double, ending the evening with a team-high 15 points and 10 assists, while coming up just short in the rebound category with seven.
"It was a grind game tonight with a team that we knew was going to be extremely tough," head coach
Pat Baldwin said. "It's great to come out on top in a game like this where it was extremely physical. We knew it was going to be tough, our guys were extremely prepared and ready for this game tonight."
The Panthers (3-1) built their lead to as many as 20 against the Roos (1-3) in the second half, needing a run of nine unanswered to put the game away after the lead had been trimmed to six with just under seven minutes to play.
Lucas was joined in double-figures by
Josh Thomas (14),
Darius Roy (12) and
Wil Sessoms (12). Thomas and Sessoms both added six rebounds.
"I loved the fact that we had so much balance on the offensive end," Baldwin said. "We got off to a great start in the second half to push the lead to 20. Had to hold on; just a testament to our toughness and our defense that allowed us to get this win tonight."
The 10-assist game was the first for a Panther since Jordan Johnson had 15 against UIC in February of 2016.
Brandon McKissic and Rob Whitfield led Kansas City with 10 points apiece.
Thomas hit a three from the wing at the halftime buzzer to give the Panthers a 26-22 lead at intermission. Following a KC dunk, Milwaukee went on a 22-4 run that seemingly gave it control, eventually leading by 20 at 48-28 on a Thomas layup with 12:06 remaining.
The Roos had some life left, turning the tables with a 15-1 spree of their own to get back into it at 49-43. From there MKE had the answer and kept things under control – scoring nine unanswered – with seven of them coming from Lucas.
Lucas extended the advantage back to 15 on a pair of free throws at 58-43 with 4:28 left to seal the win for the Panthers.
A slow start for both sides out of the gates, Milwaukee figured things out after the lead changed hands back-and-forth, using an 8-0 spurt to grab a 14-7 advantage on a layup by Roy at 11:18.
Tied again at 16-16, a three by Thomas pushed the Panther advantage back to four at 23-19 with just under three minutes to play. It was Thomas again at the buzzer, hitting that triple from the corner as time expired to make the score 26-22 at the break.
The team shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the floor on the night, holding the Roos to 38.5 percent (20-of-52). MKE won the rebounding battle, 38-27.
Up next, the Panthers close out the homestand with a Tuesday night contest against North Dakota. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at UWM Panther Arena.
