INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team battled all night but came up just short, falling to IUPUI by a final score of 67-60 Friday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
The Panthers (9-19, 4-11 Horizon League) overcame a late deficit to make it a one-possession game in the final minutes on a pair of occasions against the Jaguars (15-13, 7-8 Horizon League), but ran out of time to complete the comeback effort.
DeAndre Abram led the way with 19 points, adding seven rebounds.
Darius Roy chipped in 18 points, while
Jake Wright was also in double-figures with 12.
"It was a tough way to lose tonight because our guys gave a lot of effort," head coach
Pat Baldwin said. "It's unfortunate with that effort – we had some poor execution down the stretch, some turnovers that allowed them to score on the other end."
After jumping ahead on the first possession of the second half and then trading scoring runs, Milwaukee found itself back in front, 46-44, with just over 15 minutes remaining.
The game would go back-and-forth, knotted at 50-50 and again at 54-all when Wright buried a clutch 3 at the 5:48 mark.
Some missed free throws – MKE finished 9-of-16 on the night – and untimely turnovers hurt the cause and the team found itself down, 60-54. Another Wright 3 made it a one-possession game at 60-57 with 1:43 remaining. Back down six after a turnover, Abram's trio of tosses from the charity stripe again had it at one possession again with 20.8 seconds left. The Jaguars then made their last four free throws to seal it.
"We have been really good with our free throws on the year," Baldwin said. "That let us down tonight. We have to do a better job of making our free throws and when it's crunch time, we have to take care of the ball a lot better and execute."
Milwaukee led for the majority of the first half, keeping a step ahead of the Jaguars for most of the period. Down four on a couple of possessions early, the Panthers went ahead on a three by Roy at the 12:43 mark at 14-13.
MKE connected on eight 3's in the frame, getting timely makes from Wright to make it 17-16 and again from Roy to extend the advantage to 33-29.
Abram then had an answer when IUPUI went ahead, hitting a long 3 at the 2:02 mark to put the Panthers back ahead, 36-34. The home team would score the final three of the frame to edge ahead at the break, 37-36.
"I believe in our guys 100 percent," Baldwin said. "We obviously want to be on the other side of a game like this. Our guys are going to continue to fight. And I am not letting down – and I don't suspect anybody in that locker room will quit either. We are going to continue to fight; we have a lot to play for still."
The final road game of the regular season is up next and takes the Panthers to Chicago Sunday for a matinee with UIC. Game time is set for 3:12 p.m.
