The Milwaukee men's basketball team returns home for a pair of conference contests this week, starting Thursday night when it hosts Detroit Mercy downtown. The Panthers have won three in a row and start the week in fourth place in the Horizon League standings. The 7 p.m. matchup against the Titans, presented by Mountain Dew, will be carried live on ESPN+ (subscription required), 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.

It's "Panthers at Work" night Thursday, with the UWM Alumni Association partnering to provide UWM Alumni with a special ticket offer for the game. Tickets are just $10 through this special offer and each ticket purchased will include access into the 414 Lounge, which is the newest premium hospitality area at Panther Basketball games. For assistance, please contact us at 414-229-5886 or by e-mail at uwmtix@uwm.edu. It is also "Taco Thursday", giving fans the opportunity to get a taco bowl and a soda for just $5 from the Mil-Town Taco concession stand in the arena.

LOOKING AT THE TITANS
Detroit Mercy came in at No. 8 in the preseason Horizon League poll after a campaign in which it went 11-20, including 8-10 in conference games. Antoine Davis burst on the scene last winter, finishing third in the nation and first in the Horizon League at 26.1 points per game. He sank an NCAA freshman record 132 3-pointers, breaking the mark held by Stephen Curry. Davis was selected the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year and secured a spot on the first-team preseason all-league as well. The Titans enter play this week at 3-15 overall (1-4 league) and have not won a true road game at 0-10. Davis leads the way at 23.7 ppg, with Justin Miller the only other player in double-figures at 10.6 ppg.

SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee and Detroit are meeting for the 55th time in a series that dates back to 1995. The Panthers hold a slim 29-25 edge in the all-time series and Milwaukee has won eight of the past 13 meetings. A year ago, the Titans took the season series, winning 90-84 in Milwaukee Feb. 14 and 93-84 in Detroit Jan. 12.

LAST GAME
Te'Jon Lucas scored a career-high 31 points and the Milwaukee men's basketball team went ahead early and held off a late charge to claim an 87-80 victory over Green Bay Jan. 11. The Panthers (8-9, 3-2 Horizon League) put together a great defensive effort against the Phoenix (7-11, 2-3 Horizon League) in the first half to set the stage for the big win.
 
Lucas added five rebounds, five assists and three steals to his 31-point effort. He came up huge down the stretch, scoring 11 straight points when the game hung in the balance over the final minutes.
 
Darius Roy added 23 points, including a huge three-pointer that helped MKE regain momentum when Green Bay had cut into the lead and made it a one-point game with just over six minutes left. Josh Thomas chipped in 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

RISE AGAINST THE PHOENIX
Te'Jon Lucas finished with a new career-high and the first 30-point game of his career when he netted 31 against Green Bay Jan. 11. The 30-point effort was the first for a Panther since DeAndre Abram went for 31 against Detroit Mercy last January, a span of 29 games. The 31 points topped Lucas' former career-best of 26 against Morgan State earlier this season and included a 9-of-10 showing at the free throw line - his most made free throws in one game in his career as well. For his efforts, he was named the Horizon League Player of the Week, just the second time for a Milwaukee player since December of 2015. He was also tabbed the College Sports Madness Horizon League Player of the Week.

DYNAMIC DUO
Te'Jon Lucas (31) and Darius Roy (23) combined for 54 points against the Phoenix Jan. 11, the most for a pair of MKE teammates in quite some time. With a second-half lead of as much as 12 down to just one at 65-64, Roy hit a huge three-pointer to make it 68-64 and then Lucas took over for a bit. He scored Milwaukee's next 11 points, going 6-for-6 from the line. Roy's 3 with just over two minutes left essentially sealed the deal at 82-73, with the two combining for 28 straight (Lucas 17/Roy 11) at that point in the contest. The last time a pair of teammates scored as much was in December of 2012, when Jordan Aaron (34) and Paris Gulley (20) combined for 54 in a victory over Ohio Dominican.

A TRUE SPORTSCENTER #1
While it may have been a bit of time since the Panthers last made the SportsCenter Top 10, they did so with a bang Jan. 5. Te'Jon Lucas' game-winner not only made the list, but came in at No. 1 on the "Worldwide Leader in Sports". It is the first time the Panthers have earned the top spot on the popular highlight feature.

'TURRO POWERED
A game after seeing a season-high 13 minutes against Wright State Dec. 30, Arturro Bingham enjoyed a breakout performance against IUPUI Jan. 3. He finished with a season-high 12 points (topping his former best of 8) in a season-best 16 minutes against the Jaguars, with a red-hot 4-of-5 effort from long range powering the way. He hit two more 3's two days later, scoring 8 first-half points in the win over UIC.

ENTER THE FROSH
The starting lineup against IUPUI Jan. 3 featured three different freshmen, with C.J. Wilbourn, Courtney Brown Jr., and Shae Mitchell all earning the opportunity against the Jaguars. It's a rare feat for the Panthers, happening just one other time in recent memory. That was back in January of 2016 when August Haas, Jeremy Johnson and Bryce Nze accomplished the feat.

TO CATCH A THIEF
Te'Jon Lucas recorded the most steals in one game for a Panther in quite some time against IUPUI Jan. 3. He ended the night with 6, which not only doubled-up his prior career-best of 3, but marked the most since Steve McWhorter piled up 6 against Detroit Mercy - back in January of 2015. The near-five year span covered 152 games.

HALFWAY TO A BENCHMARK
Redshirt junior Te'Jon Lucas finished with 11 points against Wright State Dec. 30, giving him an even 500 for his collegiate career (he now has 561). He stands third on the team on the career list, with DeAndre Abram (763) and Darius Roy (741) ahead of him in career points at the NCAA DI level.

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
Milwaukee started league play in search of its sixth victory in its last 12 league openers. After falling to Northern Kentucky Dec. 28, the Panthers are now 13-13 in conference openers since joining the MCC/Horizon League.

SHINING ON THE BIG STAGE
With a sellout crowd of 16,300 in attendance at historic Phog Allen Fieldhouse, Darius Roy gave a second-ranked Kansas squad one of his best efforts Dec. 10. He poured in a game-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, adding 4 rebounds and 3 assists. The 25-point effort marked the third-most for Roy in his career, trailing only 29 and 27-point games.

FILLING IT UP
Darius Roy went through a stretch of scoring not seen by a Panther in quite some time. He followed up the outburst at Kansas with 24 more points against Eastern Illinois Dec. 14 and 25 against Wisconsin Dec. 21. The team leader each contest, he became the first MKE player since Ricky Franklin in January of 2010 to score 20-plus points in three games in a row. That season, Franklin went for 21 against Youngstown State (1/22/10), 23 against Cleveland State (1/24/10) and 22 against Valparaiso (1/29/10). Avery Smith also accomplished the feat in January of 2009, with the last player to reach 20-plus in four consecutive games being Joah Tucker in January of 2006.

PANTHERS AND THE POLLS
Milwaukee was attempting to earn its first victory over a nationally ranked opponent since a 63-60 decision against No. 21 Butler on February 18, 2009 when it took on No. 2/3 Kansas Dec. 10. The Panthers actually outscored the Jayhawks, 51-42, from the 6-minute mark of the first half until the final media timeout of the contest. However, the early deficit was just too much to overcome.

Wins over ranked teams include Milwaukee beating 21st-ranked Alabama and 14th-ranked Boston College in 2005 and 24th-ranked Oklahoma in 2006. The Panthers do also own a win at Butler in 2001-02 when the Bulldogs were ranked 25th in the ESPN/USA Today poll but were not ranked by the AP. Their record all-time now checks in at 4-45, with the victory over BC at #14 the biggest upset. Milwaukee has played the No. 1 team in the country just once - when it took on Illinois in the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 2005. The next-highest was Kansas at No. 2 back in 2004-05.

JUST CALL HIM "TB3"
Tyler Behrendt provided quite a spark off the bench against Drake Dec. 3. Foul trouble for MKE provided the opportunity and Behrendt was up to the task. He swished his first three-pointer to stop a 7-0 Bulldog spurt and buried another three minutes later to put Milwaukee up 43-38. His layup and free throw with just under six minutes left also had the Panthers in front at 49-47. All told, he finished with a career-high 9 points (in just 10 minutes), topping the 8 he had against WLC earlier this season.

HE DID IT AGAIN
Te'Jon Lucas put together another brilliant outing against Morgan State Nov. 23, setting a new career-high with 26 points while also grabbing a team-best 7 rebounds. He was at his best when it mattered the most, scoring nine straight by himself to turn a 47-46 MKE advantage into a 56-49 lead to take control of the contest. His 26 points topped the 23 he netted against Western Michigan Nov. 9. He used 5 three-pointers to power the day, also setting a new career-high in that category - easily eclipsing his prior best of three triples in a game.

SPREAD THE WEALTH
The balance of the MKE offense has been on display so far this season, with the team finishing with at least four players in double-figures in seven of 17 games - with the list getting to five with 10-plus against both North Dakota Nov. 19 and Wisconsin Lutheran Nov. 12. In addition, four different players have been the leading scorer to this point. For comparison, the team had 10 games (of 31) a year ago in which at least four players finished in double-figures. Six different players went down as the team's high scorer over the course of the season.

WELCOME TO CREAM CITY
Grant Coleman, Donovan Newby and Kaleim Taylor of Milwaukee, Wis., have all signed their National Letters of Intent to play next season for the Milwaukee men's basketball team.
 
Coleman, a 6-foot, 7-inch senior at Mahomet-Seymour High School, is coming off a very impressive junior campaign where he was named First-Team All-Apollo Conference after averaging over 20 points a game. Newby, a 6-foot, 1-inch guard from Bloom High School, was a key piece of a ranked Blazing Trojans squad that finished 26-4 before falling in the sectional semifinals. Newby, who plays AAU for the Illinois Wolves, is among the City/Suburban Hoops Report's Top 25 prospects in the class and averaged double-figures as a junior. Taylor, a 6-foot, 3-inch guard at Milwaukee Academy of Sciences, enjoyed a breakout season as a junior. He improved his rebounding from 5.8 per game to 10.5 while also setting career-highs with his 22.7 point and 5.5 assists per-game averages. He was named Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Fourth-Team All-Area.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Some fun facts about Te'Jon Lucas' statline against Kansas City Nov. 15, which included a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, as well as a near-triple double with seven boards.

*The 10 assists were a career-high, topping the former high-water mark of 8 that he had reached on three prior occasions.

*It marked the first game of 10-plus assists for a Panther since Jordan Johnson's school-record 15 against UIC back in February of 2016 - a span of 104 games.

*If Lucas would have pulled off the triple-double, it would have been the fifth in school history and the first since Johnson went for 10 pts/10 asst/10 reb against Youngstown State on February 22, 2016.

RUN & GUN
It has been a solid half of the season for the offense, which comes into play against Detroit Mercy fourth in the Horizon League with its 72.6 ppg scoring average. The two-game outburst against Western Michigan Nov. 9 and Wisconsin Lutheran Nov. 12 were actually unprecedented, however, seeing Milwaukee top 100 points in back-to-back games for the first time in the NCAA Division I era (since 1990-91). The last time the Panthers put up consecutive games above 100 points was back in January of 1989, topping SIUE (101-89) and Lakeland (125-79). That 1988-89 team also put together a stretch of three in a row in mid-February.

WINNING BIG
The Panthers put on quite an offensive show against Wisconsin Lutheran Nov. 12, putting new entries into the program record book for biggest halftime lead as well as final winning margin. MKE grabbed a 50-19 lead at the break in the 103-53 decision.
*HALFTIME*
1. 39 against Mount Senario (50-11) on Dec. 27, 2000.
2. 33 against Prairie View A&M (53-23) on Nov. 20, 2004
3. 31 against WLC (50-19)
*WINNING MARGIN*
1. 79: Mount Senario (100-21)
2. 62: Prairie View A&M (117-55)
3. 52: Sacramento State (96-44) 1/23/93
4. 51: Judson (125-74) 12/13/15
5. 50 against WLC (103-53)

TE'JON OFF AND RUNNING
After a season sitting out due to NCAA transfer regulations, the much-awaited debut of Milwaukee-native Te'Jon Lucas certainly met expectations. He led the team with 19 points against Concordia Wisconsin Nov. 5, easily eclipsing his former high of 14 set against both Northwestern (12/1/17) and New Mexico State (12/16/17). His seven rebounds also tied his career-high first established against Longwood (12/13/17). In addition, he just missed new marks with 7 assists (career-best is 8, twice) and minutes with 34 (just off his collegiate high of 35).

One game later, he raised the bar again, scoring all 23 of his points in the second half to help Milwaukee erase what was a 15-point deficit to get the contest to overtime against Western Michigan Nov. 9. He set (and reset) career-highs with the 23 points, the 9 rebounds (was 7) three made 3's, 8 made free throws (was 7) and 45 minutes played (was 35). It also marked just the eighth time since 2005 that a Panther netted 20-or-more points in a single half of play.

OT MADNESS
If a triple overtime game for the Panthers sounds unusual, it's because it is. It's just the second game in the 121-year history of the program to get past a second overtime. The only one longer happened in January of 2001, a four-overtime thriller that saw UIC edge MKE, 112-106. In all, just 12 games have even made it to double-overtime, a number that represents just .005 percent of the over 2,655 games played since program's inception.

MINUTES MONSTERS
With it being just the second-ever game to even get past double-overtime in program history, one of the most obvious records did get broken. The new mark for minutes played in a game belongs to Darius Roy, who logged 52 of the 55 on the evening. The former mark of 47 - held by three players (most recently Brock Stull in 2016) - was also eclipsed by Josh Thomas, who ended the night with 51. Most amazing part for Roy? He wasn't even in the starting lineup against the Broncos.

POINTS PALOOZA
The Panthers lit up the scoreboard against Western Michigan Nov. 9, eventually seeing their point total land at 110, the fifth-most points scored in a game in program history. The record? The 125 that Milwaukee put up against Judson back in December of 2015. The teams also combined for the most in a game in program history, with the 225 topping the 218 scored in a game between MKE (106) and UIC (112) in that four-OT epic back in January of 2001.

WHY STOP THERE
More school standards were threatened against the Broncos Nov. 9, starting with personal fouls. The Panthers had six players foul out of the contest - the most ever, including four starters - and ended up with 42 total fouls. The former mark was essentially shattered, topping the 37 that Milwaukee and UIC recorded back on January 11, 2001. Other marks that came close included the 85 field goal attempts, which comes in third all-time behind the top mark of 97 (against Illinois in 1990) and 86 (against Oshkosh in 1991). Free throw attempts were given a run, with the 51 tries from the charity stripe now sitting third behind 54 against UIC (2001) and 52 against Cleveland State (2000). In addition, the 54 rebounds now ranks sixth on the list, with the record of 59 established against Loyola Chicago in 2009.

TOP THAT
Darius Roy made quite the season debut against Western Michigan Nov. 9, pouring in a career-high 29 points to edge out his former best of 27 against LIU Brooklyn last year. He added 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, coming in that program record 52 minutes on the court. In addition, his 10 made FG's also eclipsed his former best of 7, which he did twice last year.

C.J. SEEING HIS NAME IN LIGHTS
C.J. Wilbourn was a member of the starting lineup in the season opener against Concordia Wisconsin Nov. 5, a big moment for the freshman. It marks just the third time a frosh has been a starter in a season opener in the past decade for the Panthers, joining August Haas (against MSOE, 11/11/16) and Thierno Niang (against Mary, 11/9/12).

JUNIORS IN EVERY CLASS
In a unique first for the program, the roster now consists of four different student-athletes to carry the suffix "Jr." following their last name. The list includes senior Bobby Arthur-Williams, Jr., sophomore Jamar Madge, Jr., freshman Courtney Brown, Jr., and transfer Vin Baker, Jr., who all have the honor to carry on their father's first names.

JT BEING JT
Junior newcomer Josh Thomas made quite the splash in his Milwaukee debut against Concordia Wisconsin Nov. 5, finishing second on the squad with an 18-point night in his first game in a Panther uniform. He also led the team with 8 rebounds and added a pair of assists in 35 minutes on the court.

AND WE'RE OFF
A couple of different looks to the season opener, which saw 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 now 18-12 in season openers since returning to the NCAA Division I ranks full-time in 1990-91, which includes the 72-62 victory over Concordia Wisconsin to start the 2019-20 slate. More impressively, the team is now 25-5 in that same span in home openers, claiming wins in 18 of the past 20 (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: Milwaukee held second-half leads in eight of the final 11 games, including each of the final four 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 Jake Wright (94.4, 34-of-36) coming up just short on enough attempts to qualify.

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

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 caught 15 passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns this season, making six starts in 15 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 homestand closes out Saturday, with the first My24 TV game of the season against Oakland. Tip time is set for 6 p.m. against the Golden Grizzlies.