MILWAUKEE – Purdue Fort Wayne opened a second-half lead that was too much to overcome, knocking off the Milwaukee men's basketball team by a final score of 81-74 Saturday evening at the Klotsche Center.
 
The Mastodons (6-5, 5-5 Horizon League) did not miss a field goal for the first seven-plus minutes of the second half, building a lead to as many as 17 points.
 
"It was just uncharacteristic of us, from a defensive standpoint," head coach Pat Baldwin said. "Purdue Fort Wayne presents different issues because they came in as the top three-point shooting team in the league. Plus, they move the ball well, they are very good offensively."
 
The Panthers (5-4, 4-3 Horizon League) never quit, eventually giving themselves an opportunity to make it a one-possession game three different times down the stretch but could not convert.
 
"We had multiple things that we had to cover and we didn't do a good job with it," Baldwin said. "We tried to change up some things to give them a different look. But obviously it wasn't enough because they were really hot from the floor tonight."
 
Tafari Simms led Milwaukee with 24 points off the bench, adding a team-high eight rebounds while also connecting of 4-of-5 attempts from long range.
 
Te'Jon Lucas contributed 16 points and seven assists, with DeAndre Gholston joining them in double-figures with 14.
 
Jarred Godfrey led four visitors in double-figures with 18 points, adding six rebounds and seven assists.
 
The Mastodons came out of the locker room red-hot to start the second half, connecting on each of their first seven shots, including six of those from three-point range. They did not miss a field goal until the 12:27 mark, with their field-goal percentage for the day at 75 percent before the misfire.
 
Milwaukee started their comeback attempt after the deficit grew to 17 at 62-45 with 13:34 remaining. It was slow and steady, with Gholston's putback and free throw cutting it back to single-digits at 65-56 at the 9:05 mark.
 
Simms capped seven unanswered, part of a larger 18-6 run that made it 68-63. MKE was within five on three different occasions but could not convert.
 
Milwaukee got behind early in the first half and had a tough time making waves against the Mastodons, who were shooting over 70 percent deep into the first period as well. The visitors scored seven of the first nine points of the day, but the home side did have a quick response, eventually edging back ahead, 11-10, on a jumper by Devon Hancock. 
 
From there another Purdue Fort Wayne scoring run gave them some distance, forcing an MKE timeout on the run up at 17-11. The next came at 24-14, capping a 14-3 run that forced the use of a second timeout. The Panthers had it back to six on a few possessions, but it took until two minutes remained for Hancock to get them back within four at 31-27. The lead then grew to nine at the half at 38-29. 
 
Purdue Fort Wayne finished the contest at 62.8 percent (27-of-43), which included a school-record 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from three-point range. MKE ended the day at 45 percent (27-of-60) and did force 20-plus turnovers (23) for the second straight day. 
 
The Panthers close out the month of January with four games on the road, starting with a pair of matchups with Cleveland State. The opener against the Vikings, who currently sit alone at the top of the league standings, is set for 8 p.m. CST Friday in a contest that has been moved to ESPN2.