The Milwaukee men's basketball team officially gets the 2019-20 campaign underway this week, welcoming Concordia University Wisconsin downtown to UWM Panther Arena Tuesday evening. The Panthers are coming off an 88-46 victory over Cardinal Stritch in their exhibition outing last week, while the Falcons are set to kick off the start of their new campaign with the contest. The matchup, set to tip at 7 p.m., will feature a live stream on ESPN3, will have live statistics available and will be carried on the Black & Gold Network with Scott Warras on the call. All links are posted on the MKE website.

LOOKING AT THE FALCONS
The Falcons are coming off a season in which they shared the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference regular-season title after compiling a 16-4 league record on their way to finishing 18-8 overall. The title was the fourth in head coach Shawn Cassidy's tenure and he is entering his 13th season as the program's mentor, owning 201 victories - which is the second-most in program history.

Concordia Wisconsin will rely on junior Jordan Johnson, who is the team's top returning scorer after averaging 15.7 points per game on 50.2 percent shooting (45.1 percent from the 3-point line). He had over 20 points in five games last season and recorded five double-doubles.

SERIES HISTORY
No games have been played in the series since 1986, with the last contest going down as an 87-69 win for the Panthers on February 8, 1986. The two teams played regularly before UWM's move to NCAA Division I, dating all the way back to 1906. In all, the Panthers hold a 37-8 advantage. The two teams matched up for an exhibition contest last winter, resulting in an 82-71 Milwaukee win. Darius Roy led the way with 22 points.

LAST GAME
Four players finished in double-figures as the Milwaukee men's basketball team tipped off the 2019-20 season with an 88-46 exhibition victory over Cardinal Stritch Oct. 31.
 
Josh Thomas and DeAndre Abram led the way for the Panthers with 15 points each, with Wil Sessoms and Darius Roy joining them in double-digits with 11. Abram added six rebounds and a team-high five assists, while Thomas chipped in six boards and three assists in his MKE debut.
 
Milwaukee came out red-hot, hitting its first eight shot attempts from the floor in racing out to a 20-4 lead. Stritch dug in and fought back, using a 13-to-4 run to pull back within seven at 24-17. A pair of Wolves' free throws had them within 11 again at 30-19, which also served as a turning point in the game. The Panthers went on a 21-6 scoring run the rest of the first half and never looked back, leading 51-25 at intermission.

AND WE'RE OFF
A couple of different looks to the season opener, which sees Milwaukee playing its opening game of the season at the UWM Panther Arena for the third time in four years after not doing so since a win over SW Minnesota State to kick off the 2011-12 campaign. The team is 17-12 in season openers since returning to the NCAA Division I ranks full-time in 1990-91, which includes a 73-53 loss at Boston College to start the 2018-19 slate a year ago. More impressively, the team is 24-5 in that same span in home openers, claiming wins in 17 of the past 19 (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 (have won the previous 12 in that scenario).

WELCOME TO THE CLUB
The Panthers start the season with one of the largest rosters they have had in recent memory, with 18 players currently on the squad. It's an interesting mix of newcomers and returners, led by a graduating class of five student-athletes. Darius Roy, Bobby Arthur-Williams and Wil Sessoms are fourth-year seniors, DeAndre Abram is a redshirt senior and newcomer Lincoln Wieseman is a graduate transfer with immediate eligibility for the Panthers.

A trio of student-athletes are eligible this season after redshirt campaigns. Milwaukee gets to see Te'Jon Lucas (Jr.), Harrison Henderson (Jr.) and Shae Mitchell (R-Fr.) compete for the first time as Panthers this winter. The team also welcomes junior-college transfers Josh Thomas and Arturro Bingham as well as a group of four true freshmen: C.J. Wilbourn, Courtney Brown, Jr., Tyler Ellingson and Ryan Waddell.

PUT A RIBBON ON IT
The Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook ranked the Panthers No. 7 in its preseason poll, but also selected a familiar name for its "Newcomer of the Year" - they tabbed Te'Jon Lucas for the potential honor.

Lucas has had a long-awaited debut for the Panthers following two seasons at Illinois. While in the Big Ten, he averaged 5.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 29 games as a sophomore, making 19 starts over the course the season. He shot 47.8 percent (64-of-134) from the field, leading the Illini in assists-per-game. The No. 138 prospect in the Class of 2016 according to the Composite Ranking, the former Milwaukee Washington High School standout averaged 20.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 2.8 steals per game his last prep season, earning unanimous Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association First-Team D2 All-State honors despite having his final season cut short with a leg injury. The runner-up for Mr. Basketball chose Illinois over offers from USC, Purdue and Old Dominion while also being recruited by Michigan.

SOLID FOUNDATION
Darius Roy was a welcome addition to the Milwaukee roster a season ago, leading the team with a scoring average of 15.8 points that finished eighth in the Horizon League. He led the team in scoring a team-high 16 times - including the first three games of the season. He topped the 20-point plateau a team-best seven times, which topped out with his 27 points against LIU Brooklyn Nov. 20. He shot 44.9 percent from the field, 40.5 percent from three-point range and 84.3 percent from the line, while adding 4.1 rebounds per game and a team-high 118 assists.

POINTS AND BOARDS
DeAndre Abram is coming off an impressive first season with the Panthers and heads into the 2019-20 season as one of just five returning Horizon League players to rank in the Top 20 in both points and rebounds a year ago. Abram averaged 12.1 points (19th in the conference) and 6.9 rebounds (fifth in the league) while also recording a team-best six double-doubles.

He also starts the season at 619 points in his collegiate career. With a similar season in scoring average, Abram will be on pace to collect his 1,000th point before the conclusion of the campaign.

CLOSE ONLY COUNTS IN HORSESHOES
It was a frustrating stretch run for the Panthers to close out last season, but one look at the box scores shows just how close it had been over the final month of play: Milwaukee held second-half leads in eight of the final 11 games, including each of the final four games of the campaign.

MAKING THE FREE ONES COUNT
The Panthers were one of the better free throw shooting teams in the country last winter. Despite cooling down the stretch, the team still led the Horizon League with its .746 clip, connecting on 379-of-508 charity stripe tosses to finish second in school history - trailing only the school-record .772 (554-of-718) set back in the 2015-16 campaign. Milwaukee topped out nationally at No. 8 mid-season, finishing the winter at No. 42 for free throws at the NCAA DI level.

Among the individual Horizon League leaders, team-leader Vance Johnson (.860) would finish first, while Darius Roy (.843) was close behind in fifth place. Jake Wright hit on 34-of-36 (.944), but did not have enough attempts to qualify for the leader board.

CHASING DOWN THE RECORD
With that in mind, the season record for free-throw percentage was given a run by a trio of Panthers during the 2018-19 season. That record is currently the 87.0 percent (40-of-46) that Pat Easterlin connected on back in the 1993-94 campaign. Both Johnson and Roy would go on to crack the Top 10, with Wright coming up just short on enough attempts to qualify.

3. Vance Johnson: .860 (80-of-93)
8. Darius Roy: .843 (86-of-102)

SHARPSHOOTER ROY
The free throw shooting kept setting records, with Darius Roy going a perfect 10-for-10 from the line against Oakland Feb. 16 of last season. Now it obviously ties the school record for best percentage, but the No. 1 entry on attempts includes a 13-for-13 showing by Derek Durham against Stetson in December of 1995.
12-12: Shannon Smith (2/16/95)
11-11: Three players
10-10: Five times, most recent Jordan Johnson (2/8/14)

GETTIN' BUCKETS
DeAndre Abram put on a show against Detroit Mercy Feb. 14 of last season, scoring 21 points in the first half - including the first 12 of the game for the Panthers - on his way to 28 points on the night. It's been a while since a Panther has scored MORE points in a first half than Abram did. In fact, you have to go all the way back to January of 2005 when Ed McCants scored 24 of his 38 in the first half against the same Titans.
20-plus points in any half since then:
*Jeremiah Bell had 23 of his 31 points in the second half against Detroit 3/3/17
*Akeem Springs had 21 of his 33 points in the first half against Youngstown State 1/7/16
*Jordan Aaron had 23 of his 30 points in the second half against Green Bay 2/8/14
*Jordan Aaron had 20 of his 33 points in the first half against UMKC 11/30/13
*Avery Smith had 22 of his 36 points in the second half against Oakland 12/2/06
*Joah Tucker had 20 of his 32 points in the first half against Illinois 3/24/05

BARELY A MISS
Darius Roy put together an impressive shooting display against IUPUI Jan. 19 of last season, with his 9-of-11 showing from the floor (.818) overall just missing the record book (10 makes is the minimum for inclusion). That showing came close to a Top-5 mark, and also included a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line and a perfect 3-for-3 effort from three-point range. His 25 points tied for the second-most in his career (his high finished at 27), marking his fifth 20-point showing of the year.

CAROM COLLECTING
Not only did DeAndre Abram lead the Panthers in scoring for the third straight game - with 19 points - in the win over UIC Jan. 17, but he also established a new career-high by recording 16 rebounds. That eclipsed the 15 he grabbed against FIU earlier this season and was also good for the eighth-best total in school history. The program mark of 18 is held by Nathan Schrameyer and was set against SEMO on March 2, 1995. Six players have grabbed 17 in a game, most recently Bryce Nze (2/16/18).

IT WAS DRE'S DAY
The 31 points DeAndre Abram poured in against Detroit Mercy Jan. 12 last season not only marked a career high, but was also the first game of 30-or-more points scored by a Panther since Jeremiah Bell netted 31 - also against the Titans - in the Horizon League Tournament back on March 3, 2017. That marked a span of 55 games, as Abram went 12-of-19 from the floor, tying a career-high with 6 made 3's while also adding a team-best 7 boards. That topped his former high-water mark of 27 points, which came against Wagner in December of 2015.

TALE OF TWO HALVES
It was a complete reversal for the Panthers in the comeback victory over Cleveland State Jan. 3 of last season, roaring back from down 14 points in the second half to earn the 83-76 victory, powered by a key 24-4 scoring run. It wasn't just the scoring spree that helped. After shooting 40 percent from the floor (and making just 1-of-10 three-pointers) in the first 20 minutes, Milwaukee hit 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field overall in the second half, sinking six of 11 from long-range (54.5 percent). The team also went to the line 25 times en route to scoring 55 points and forced 12 of the 20 CSU turnovers in the second. Overall, the 31 points scored off of turnovers nearly doubled the previous season high (17 against Albany) and the 20 forced TO's was also a season-best, topping the prior high of 14 reached four different times.

PROBABLY IMPROBABLE; BUT NOT
Down nine points with 2:45 to play, things looked a bit bleak for the Panthers before pulling off the improbable victory over UMKC Dec. 13 last year. As crazy as it sounds, the team has had a pair of similar finishes in just the past three seasons. Two years ago, Milwaukee erased a 19-point first-half lead against Elon, but also closed the game on a 12-2 run (over the final 6:01) to earn the buzzer-beating 72-71 victory. Three seasons ago, the team closed regulation on a 13-4 spree against Youngstown State (over the final 6:32 on 1/22/17) to force overtime, eventually winning 94-85 in the extra period. Not quite as extreme, but the Panthers held Western Michigan without a point the final 2:25 and scored the final six points to win, 67-66, Dec. 22.

GETTING SOME TV TIME
The Milwaukee Athletic Department will continue its partnership with My24 Sports to air games during the 2019-20 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 three select Milwaukee Panthers games live starting January 18th with the game against Oakland. Also included is the February 15th tilt with Green Bay and the regular-season finale against Youngstown State.

BROADCAST BASICS
Each and every Panther game this season will be available on the Black & Gold Network. In conjunction with the website mixlr.com, Scott Warras - back for his fourth season with the MKE men and 14th with the Panthers overall -  will broadcast every game over the internet at the following link: mixlr.com/mke-panthers.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Former Milwaukee forward Demetrius Harris (2011-13) is once again on the active roster in the National Football League, now playing with the Cleveland Browns following five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. An undrafted free agent to start his career, he has caught eight passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns this season, making two starts in eight appearances. Coming into 2019, Harris had caught 57 passes for 605 yards, including six 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 sixth 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 U.S. Cellular Arena.

UP NEXT
The Panthers are set for their homecoming contest against Western Michigan, tipping off at 6 p.m. downtown Saturday evening.