MILWAUKEE – Oakland hit eight of its first 11 shots from the floor to jump out to an early lead and never looked back, handing the Milwaukee men's basketball team a tough 89-73 setback Saturday night at UWM Panther Arena.
 
"First of all, give credit to Oakland. I thought they came in extremely hungry and were prepared for us," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "We came into this game feeling very prepared as well, but unfortunately we got off to a very poor start."
 
The Panthers (9-18, 4-10 Horizon League) never quit, but could not complete the comeback attempt. The Golden Grizzlies (12-16, 8-7 Horizon League) built a first-half lead to as many as 21, yet Milwaukee was back within single-digits on a handful of occasions in the second.
 
"Our guys tried to fight back, but just couldn't get over the hump," Baldwin said. "And late in the game, we had some critical errors when we were still trying to get back in the game."
 
Vance Johnson ended the night with a career-high 25 points, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. He went 9-of-13 from the floor, which included a 2-for-2 showing from three-point range.
 
Darius Roy was also in double-figures with 22, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the line while adding four rebounds.
 
Brad Brechting led the visitors with 21 points. Xavier Hill-Mais added a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
 
"At this point, we just have to get back to square one," Baldwin said. "Defensively, we have to get a lot better. We have some fighters in our locker room – some guys who truly care about winning and progressing and being successful. I know that they are going to come back and work right alongside with me. But, definitely a disappointing night and hope to get better moving forward."
 
Down 12 at the half at 41-29, the deficit quickly grew to 17 before MKE pushed back. A 10-2 spurt by the Panthers, keyed by seven points from Johnson, trimmed the margin to nine at 50-41 at the 15:57 mark.
 
Each time Milwaukee pushed, Oakland would push back. The Panthers would get down to 10 on numerous occasions the rest of the way, but could never get closer.
 
It was all Oakland in the first half until a late push closed the gap. The Golden Grizzlies started red hot, using a 13-2 run to force a timeout at 19-6.
 
The margin went 28-12 to force a second timeout by the home side and eventually hit its largest 41-20 with 3:20 to go. From there it was all Panthers, scoring the final nine to find themselves down 12 at the break at 41-29.
 
Milwaukee shot 41.7 percent (25-of-60) on the night, while OU finished at 52.4 percent (33-of-63).
 
Up next, the final two road games of the regular season await, with a visit to IUPUI up first. Game time Friday is set for 6 p.m. CST.