The Milwaukee men's basketball team will open the postseason at home this week, welcoming UIC to UWM Panther Arena Tuesday evening for the first round of the Keeps Horizon League Basketball Championship. The matchup against the Flames is set to tip-off at 7 PM on ESPN+ with Wayne Larrivee on the call and will have live statistics available. It will also feature the "Educators Credit Union Milwaukee Panther Men's Basketball Radio Broadcast", which now airs on 101.7 FM The Truth and streaming services. Scott Warras is on the call for his sixth season as the voice of the Panthers and all links are posted on the MKE website.

LOOKING AT THE FLAMES
UIC went 9-13 a year ago, which included a 6-10 mark in Horizon League play and an eighth-place showing in the 2021-22 preseason poll. Second-year head coach Luke Yaklich brought back eight players from last year's team, led by Michael Diggins and Jamie Ahale, who took advantage of the NCAA's one-time rule in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to return for an additional year of competition. Eight of UIC's 16 players are new to the program this year, with five of the eight transferring to UIC from Division I institutions. The Flames have been playing much better of late, having won five of their past seven games after knocking off a first-place Cleveland State squad back on Feb. 10 (W, 76-75). Most recently, UIC claimed an 81-77 decision over Green Bay Thursday night before knocking off Milwaukee to close the regular season Saturday night. Damaria Franklin leads the offense with a scoring average of 18.2 ppg, also adding a team-best 7.0 rebounds. Kevin Johnson (13.1 ppg) and Zion Griffin (11.4 ppg) round out the UIC offense in double-figures.

SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee has topped the recent history of the series with UIC, winning 21 of the last 30 meetings between the teams. The Panthers now hold a 35-29 advantage in the all-time series with the Flames at the NCAA Division I level (49-30 all-time dating back to 1969). Two years ago, Milwaukee swept the season series, including a two-point win at home on a buzzer-beater from Te'Jon Lucas. The two teams did not play during the COVID-shortened season last winter, while UIC picked up an 81-77 win when they played Jan. 13 and a 71-58 win Saturday to close the campaign.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
The following is the list of father/son coach-player combinations across NCAA Division I basketball this year. Amazingly enough, the Horizon League has four teams on the list!

School        Head Coach/Son
Milwaukee    Pat Baldwin/Patrick Jr.
Detroit Mercy    Mike Davis/Antoine
UIC        Luke Yaklich/Griffin
Wright State     Scott Nagy/TJ

Boise State    Leon Rice/Max
Connecticut    Dan Hurley/Andrew
Iowa            Fran McCaffery
        Connor/Patrick
Liberty           Ritchie McKay/Gabriel
Memphis         Penny Hardaway/Jayden
Michigan        Juwan Howard/Jace
Michigan State    Tom Izzo/Steven
Miss. Valley State    Lindsey Hunter/Caleb
Nebraska    Fred Hoiberg/Sam
South Carolina    Frank Martin/Brandon
S.Carolina State    Antonio Madlock/Antonio Jr.
USC Upstate    Dave Dickerson/Dave III
Southern    Sean Woods/DeSean
Syracuse    Jim Boeheim  
        Buddy/Jimmy
Texas Southern      Johnny Jones/John
Western Illinois     Rob Jeter III/Rob IV
WKU             Rick Stansbury/Noah

TOP OF THE LIST
Patrick Baldwin Jr. picked up preseason recognition from across the country as he prepares for one of the most highly-anticipated seasons in program history. The accolades started with a spot on the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team as well as the Newcomer of the Year and a member of the preseason first-team with Blue Ribbon Yearbook and have only ramped us since then:
*One of 50 watch list members for the Lou Henson Award, presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I basketball.
*One of 50 players on the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List; the only player from the Horizon League on the list.
*One of 20 watch list members for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award. The annual honor in its eighth year recognizes the top small forwards in NCAA Division I men's college basketball.
*One of 40 watch list members for the Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award. The award, which is presented annually to the top player in Division I basketball, is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at Arizona.
*One of 50 watch list members for the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy.

USA! ... USA! ... USA!
Patrick Baldwin Jr. got back on the court this past summer, taking part in the 2021 U19 World Cup, helping Team USA to the gold medal with an 83-81 victory over France. Baldwin Jr. played a big part on Team USA and its run to a perfect 7-0 record in the event that wrapped up in mid-July, averaging 7.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game, while shooting 47 percent from the floor (21-of-44).

MAKING HORIZON LEAGUE HISTORY
Patrick Baldwin Jr. is the highest-ranked freshman recruit to ever sign with a Horizon League program. The only other close frosh comparison is Ray McCallum Jr., who played at Detroit Mercy (2010-13) for his father as his coach. McCallum was a consensus top 50 player in high school, was ranked as the No. 5 guard and the No. 17 overall recruit in the nation by ESPN. Since 1998, not a single consensus Top-5 recruit has chosen to play for a mid-major program. Baldwin is the first Top-10 24/7Sports Composite high school recruit to sign with a school outside a power conference (not named Gonzaga or Memphis) since Western Kentucky inked Charles Bassey, who was No. 6 overall in 2018. His presence, along with a strong group of returners headlined by DeAndre Gholston and Josh Thomas, also had the Panthers receiving votes in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll.

IT'S PBJ TIME!
Patrick Baldwin Jr. signed his National Letter of Intent with the Panthers in May, wrapping up a whirlwind process that had Milwaukee, Duke, and Georgetown as his final three destinations. Baldwin Jr., a 6-foot 9-inch forward, comes to Milwaukee after playing at Hamilton Sussex High School. He is a consensus five-star recruit and one of the highest-ranked players in the 2021 class. Named a 2021 McDonald's All-American – the first time a player from the state of Wisconsin has earned the distinction in six years – Baldwin was also named the 2020 Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year after leading Hamilton to a 22-3 record while averaging 24.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.
 
Baldwin Jr. chose Milwaukee over a final Top 10 that consisted of Duke, Georgetown, Kentucky, Michigan, Northwestern, North Carolina, UCLA, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the Panthers. The top shooting forward recruit in the country, Baldwin suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the second contest of the season this winter, unable to play the rest of the way. He scored 1,595 points for the Chargers and was on pace to go finish with over 2,000 before the injury. Baldwin was considered the No. 4 player nationally in the class of 2021 according to 24/7 Sports composite rankings. He is currently listed as No. 4 by both RIVALS.com and ESPN (where he was No. 1 at one point prior to the injury).

LAST TIME OUT
Milwaukee responded to turn a 14-point second-half deficit into a two-possession game, but could get no closer, falling by a final score of 71-58 to UIC Feb. 26 at Credit Union 1 Arena.
 
The Panthers (10-21, 8-14 Horizon League) used a 10-3 scoring run to pull within six points of the Flames (13-15, 9-10 Horizon League) at 59-53, but then ran out of steam, seeing UIC respond and then pull away down the stretch.
 
DeAndre Gholston led the way again for the MKE offense, finishing with 18 points, while adding six rebounds. Joey St. Pierre finished with a season-high 14 points, adding five boards while hitting 6-of-8 field-goal attempts.

POSTSEASON SCHEDULE DEJA VU
At 8-14, the Panthers wound up the No. 9 seed in the Horizon League standings but still earned a home game in round one of the Horizon League Tournament as UIC is not able to host postseason games this winter. Seeds No. 1-4 get a bye in round one, and No. 5-8 host No. 9-12 to get things underway. This marks the second time in the past three seasons that MKE will play the same opponent in the regular-season finale and again in the first round of the postseason, doing the same while falling against Youngstown State to close the 2019-20 campaign. The same scenario also played out to close 2013-14 (beating Detroit Mercy in the playoffs), 2012-13 (a loss to Green Bay), as well as 2009-10 (beating UIC). Those are the five instances in MKE's NCAA DI history of such a playoff schedule quirk. See page 15 of this release for MKE tournament history and page 16 of this release for the full postseason bracket.

POSTSEASON PRIMER
Milwaukee holds a 26-19 all-time mark in the Horizon League Tournament and have claimed tournament championships in 2014, 2006, 2005 and 2003. Plus, the Panthers also appeared in the 2017, 2011 and 2004 title games and have advanced as far as the semifinals 10 times.

The Panthers made league history and had the city of Milwaukee and state of Wisconsin on the edge of its seat in 2017 when they advanced to the "Motor City Madness" title game as the No. 10 seed. No 10 seed prior had ever won as many as even one game; Milwaukee won three times and came within seven points of what would have been the most unexpected and thrilling NCAA Tournament appearance ever.

SIMPLY SINANI
Jasin Sinani earned his second start of the season at IUPUI Feb. 24 and made a statement by hitting all four of his field-goal attempts to finish with a season-high 10 points. He hit a pair of three-pointers and nearly made all four from downtown (a third was changed from a 3 to a 2 after review and on a fourth he had a toe on the line). The 10 points he scored represented more than he had on the season (9) coming into the contest.

BENCH BRIGADE
When your bench outscores the opponent's bench by a final tally of 32-4, good things are bound to happen. For Milwaukee, that was a big reason for a 60-57 victory over Wright State Friday in front of a national television audience, with Donovan Newby and Tafari Simms leading the way on ESPNU. Newby finished with 15 points - just off his season-best of 16 set twice - and hit big shot after big shot in the second half - scoring all 15 of his team-high points over the final 17:15 of the evening. Simms was also very good, finishing with his first-ever double-double as a member of the Panthers (12 points/NCAA career-high 10 rebounds). Trailing 43-42, Newby put MKE ahead for good on a jumper with 6:31 to play. Newby (10) and Simms (8) then went on to score the final 18 points of the night and seal the critical victory. Newby then led the team in scoring off the bench for a second straight game against Green Bay Feb. 13, finishing with a career-best 17 points on an efficient 5-7 FG shooting (4-5 FT).

BIG MO!
Moses Bol emerged down the stretch, seeing more minutes and production as he commands the paint with his presence. Bol blocked five shots against Green Bay Feb. 13 - all coming in the second half - marking the first game of at least five blocks for a Panther since J.J. Panoske set the school record with eight against Northern Kentucky in January of 2016 - a span of 195 games. He also set an NCAA-best by grabbing eight rebounds against the Phoenix.

DEEEEEEEE-FENSE!
The Panthers have been very good on defense this season, leading the Horizon League with its .399 opponent field-goal percentage - a number that now ranks No. 25 in the country. Milwaukee held Green Bay to just 26.0 percent (13-of-50) shooting from the floor Feb. 13, the sixth time this season they have held an opponent below .300 (North Dakota was held to .290/Saint Xavier to .297/Northern Kentucky to .294/Green Bay to .278/Wright State to .290). In addition to those six stellar outings, the Panthers have also held six other opponents to .388 or less on overall field goal attempts in a game this year. The 49 points scored by the Phoenix Jan. 5 marked the first time MKE held an opponent under 50 since a 72-49 victory over Detroit Mercy back on Feb. 22, 2018 - a span of 101 games. The team is on pace to set a new program record in the category in the NCAA DI era, currently the .413 mark allowed by the team back in the 2004-05 campaign.

Also for perspective, that day against the Titans was the last time an opponent was held under 30 percent (UDM connected on .286 that day) prior to this season. The last time a Milwaukee defense held opponents under 30 percent even TWICE during a season was way back in 2011-12 (.255 vs. Wright State and .276 against Butler).

J2 TURNING IT UP A NOTCH
Jordan Lathon set a new personal-best in points scored as a Panther twice in a four -game span, topped by a team-best 20 points against Youngstown State Jan. 29. He helped MKE knock off Oakland with 16 points and 6 rebounds Jan. 20. Not even 10 days later he put up a great shooting effort from deep against YSU, connecting on 4-of-5 shots from beyond the three-point line to record the fifth 20-plus point scoring output of his collegiate career.

JUST CALL HIM MR. AUTOMATIC
After hitting on a school-record 90.2 percent of his free throws a year ago, it felt almost strange to see Donovan Newby miss from the free-throw line in back-to-back games to close out November and open December. Well, put that in the past, as Newby went on to make 22 consecutive charity tosses after that miss against Youngstown State Dec. 2, now sitting at 64-71 on the season for a .901 clip. He also made 20 straight last year, making him just the third player to sink at least 20 straight since Jordan Aaron set the school mark of 32 back in 2012-13. Matt Tiby (20 in 2013-14) and Vance Johnson (26 twice in 2018-19) are the others. For his career, Newby is up to an impressive 101-for-112, which comes out to 90.2 percent.

A 15-FOOT STORY
It was an interesting game at the free-throw line for the Panthers against Oakland Jan. 20, finishing up at 13-13 from the charity stripe to record a 100 percent clip (with over 10 makes) for just the fourth time in program history (the record is 22-22). For the game, MKE faced a discrepancy of 36-13 in total attempts - the first time they even faced one of 20+ since a game against Green Bay back in December of 2018 (13 to 33 that day). The count against the Golden Grizzlies reached 29-1 at one point, not shooting its second free throw OF THE GAME until 3:34 remained in regulation. The 13-13 effort goes down as fourth-best.
1. 22-22 (100%) vs. Youngstown State 2/28/15
2. 20-20 (100%) vs. Green Bay 1/9/09
3. 15-15 (100%) vs. Youngstown State 1/7/08
4. 13-13 (100%) January 20 vs. Oakland

NOT IN MY HOUSE!
Joey St. Pierre has made his presence in the paint known to opponents, currently second in the Horizon League with 1.4 blocks per game, a number that still ranks inside of the Top 85 in the NCAA. He rejected four Youngstown State shots Dec. 2, the most for a Panther in over 175 games - before adding four more his next outing against Robert Morris. St. Pierre is slowly creeping up the single-season block list, now sitting in fourth place with an outside chance at the two spot.
1. J.J. Panoske, 54 in 2015-16
2. Bryce Nze, 48 in 2017-18
3. Brett Prahl, 46 in 2017-18
4. St. Pierre, 43 this season
5. J.J. Panoske, 41 in 2012-13
6. Ryan Allan, 40 in 2011-12

JT FEELING IT
Josh Thomas has quietly put together a very efficient season shooting from the field, second on the team at 52.9 percent (83-157). He's been very impressive of late - connecting on a red-hot 71 percent (27-of-38) in a four-game stretch that concluded with another record-book entry against Oakland Jan. 20. Thomas went 10-13 from the floor against the Golden Grizzlies, capping the effort with a fastbreak dunk in the closing seconds. The 76.9 percent clip now gives him TWO of the best single-game outings following a 10-of-12 effort (.833) earlier this season against Eastern Kentucky.

SINGLE-GAME FG% (min. 10 made FG)
.846 (11-13) Adrian Tigert 2006 vs. Florida
.846 (11-13) Dylan Page 2003 vs. Loyola
.833 (10-12) Thomas 2021 vs. EKU
.833 (10-12) Bryce Nze 2017 vs. UIC
.833 (10-12) Marc Mitchell 1992 vs. Sac. State
.769 (10-13) Now three, including Thomas

ROLLING OVER THE JAGS
Milwaukee was filling it up from all over the court against IUPUI Jan. 15, with the season-high points total of 89 (in regulation) the most since scoring 94 in a victory over ... those same Jaguars in early January of last season (Jan. 8). The .623 field-goal percentage (33-of-53) was also one for the record books, checking in at seventh-best in program history (5th-best vs. DI opponents).
Single-Game Field Goal Percentage
1. .678 (40-59) Cleveland State on 2/8/96
2. .650 (26-40) UMKC on 11/30/13
3. .639 (39-61) Chicago State on 1/19/91
4. .628 (27-43) South Dakota State on 12/11/10
5. .627 (47-75) Judson on 12/13/15*
6. .625 (30-48) La Crosse on 11/10/17*
7. .623 (33-53) IUPUI on 1/15/22

VBJ STARTS OFF THE NEW YEAR RIGHT
Back in the starting lineup for a second consecutive contest at Northern Kentucky Jan. 1, Vin Baker Jr. kept the Panthers in the game in a huge way in the first half, scoring 10 of his new career-high 14 points prior to intermission. He finished the day 5-of-7 from the floor, adding three rebounds. The 14 points topped his former best of 11, done against both North Dakota in the opener this season and also against Pittsburgh as a freshman at Boston College. VBJ then topped that effort against Oakland Jan. 20, scoring 12 of his 16 points in the first half.

IT SURE WAS NEEDED
With the game on the line, DeAndre Gholston came alive for the Panthers at Northern Kentucky Jan. 1. Scoreless at halftime and seeing his team trailing by as many as 17 points and still by double-figures with just 10 minutes left in the contest, Gholston put MKE on his shoulders and started burying three's. He scored 14 points over the final 8:25, a 40-minute pace of over 60 points! He connected on his first three at the 8:25 mark before following with trifectas at 7:35, 6:48, and 2:40, as well as the go-ahead layup with 3:37 to play.
 
HOW'S THAT FOR A BREAKOUT?
With the Panthers playing shorthanded against Saint Xavier Dec. 23, Devon Hancock carried the load with a breakout game, leading the way with 18 points - all of which came from long distance (he finished 6-of-11 3FG). The outing more than doubled Hancock's prior career-high in points, which was eight from a pair of occasions last season (against Purdue Fort Wayne in January and IUPUI in February). He also played almost 27 minutes, topping his former best of 20 in the process. From the perspective of "taking advantage of an opportunity", prior to the outburst against the Cougars, Hancock had played 29 total minutes in six games this season without scoring, missing three shot attempts and adding a rebound.

BROADCAST CHANGE
A new radio partner was announced for the "Educators Credit Union Milwaukee Panther Men's Basketball Radio Broadcast," starting January 5 when the Panthers battled Green Bay. Due to affiliate adjustments within the Good Karma Brands' network of stations, the Milwaukee men's basketball games are now heard on 101.7 FM The Truth FM. Fans can listen to veteran broadcaster Scott Warras with the play-by-play call on 101.7 The Truth, and streaming services live on-line.

BACK IN THE FLOW
After missing three games due to injury, Patrick Baldwin Jr. returned to action with a brilliant performance, leading the way with 26 points as MKE downed Robert Morris Dec. 4. His 26 points included a perfect 6-for-6 showing from 3-point range, tying the game record for 3PT field-goal percentage set 30 years ago. His 26 points also marked the third-most by a freshman in school history.

MOST POINTS IN A GAME, FRESHMAN
31 Roderick Johnson vs. CSU on 2/8/96
31 Roderick Johnson vs. NIU on 2/15/96
29 Pat McCabe vs. Loyola on 1/19/95
26 PBJ vs. Robert Morris on 12/4/21
24 Clay Tucker vs. C. Michigan on 11/20/99
24 Chad Angeli vs. Loyola on 2/12/98
24 Damion Ninkovic vs. Detroit on 1/29/98

SINGLE-GAME 3FG%
1.000 (6-6) Baldwin Jr. 2021
1.000 (6-6) Joe Schultz 1991
1.000 (5-5) 4x, last Darius Roy in 2020

Baldwin Jr.'s 6 triples are the second-most 3's in a game by a frosh, with the 7 that McCabe posted in 1995 the top mark. He was rewarded with Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors, becoming the first-ever Panther to pick up the weekly award twice in a season.

A REAL 20-SOMETHING
The career of Patrick Baldwin Jr. got off and running, with the program not seeing a freshman put up such prolific single-game scoring numbers since Clay Tucker went for 24 against Central Michigan to open 1999-2000 season. PBJ now has two games of 20-plus points, with Tucker holding the program record when he recorded 20-or-more five times over the course of his first season at Milwaukee.

The last MKE freshman to score 20-plus prior to Baldwin Jr. was Bryce Nze, who finished with 22 vs. UIC in January of 2017. The list below are all of the 20-point outings by Panther freshmen since 1999.

20-PLUS BY A FRESHMAN SINCE 99-00
26 PBJ vs. Robert Morris on 12/4/21
24 Clay Tucker vs. CMU on 11/20/99
23 Tucker vs. UIC on 2/12/00
23 Tucker vs. Loyola on 1/15/00
22 Bryce Nze vs. UIC on 1/17/17
21 PBJ vs. ND on 11/9/21
21 Tucker vs. Troy State on 12/3/99
20 Tucker vs. Iowa State on 12/8/99

BLOCK PARTY
Joey St. Pierre had four of the 10 Panther blocks against Robert Morris Dec. 4, a team total that ranks tied for third-most in a single game in program history. The Panthers also added 10 more against Oakland Jan. 20.
1. 14 vs. Northern Kentucky  1/4/16
2. 11 vs. Illinois Tech  11/24/95
T3. 10 vs. Oakland, 1/20/22
T3. 10 vs. Robert Morris 12/4/21
T3. 10 vs. San Diego  12/23/00

JOEY BUCKETS
It took until the final rebound of the contest, but Joey St. Pierre grabbed that final board against Yale Nov. 24 to give him his first double-double as a Panther. He finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, adding a pair of blocks and a steal. He is the second Panther to record a double-double this season, joining Patrick Baldwin Jr., who has two. St. Pierre almost made it back-to-back double-doubles, going for 13 points and a team-best nine rebounds against Alcorn State Nov. 28.

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
Milwaukee broke a recent skid in Horizon League openers last year, topping Green Bay (68-65) after having dropped the initial game of the conference slate each of the prior six times, dating back to an 82-76 victory over Youngstown State in 2013-14. Since joining the MCC/Horizon League, Milwaukee is now 14-14 in league openers following the tough loss to Youngstown State.

TWICE IS NICE
Patrick Baldwin Jr. added to his resume quickly, becoming the first freshman in Milwaukee's DI history to record double-doubles in each of his first two appearances when he posted 19 points and 11 rebounds against EKU Nov. 13 - earning PBJ Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors (20 ppg/10.5 rpg). The season record should come quickly as well, held by Adrian Tigert back in 2003-04, a year in which AT didn't post his first until game No. 5 and finished the campaign with four double-doubles. For Baldwin Jr., the league honor was just the third time a Panther has claimed the accolades since the conference instituted them for the 2013-14 campaign, as well as the first time since Bryce Nze won in January 2017.

DANDY DEBUT FOR PBJ
Patrick Baldwin Jr. lived up to the hype in the season opener, leading the Panthers to a 75-60 victory over North Dakota Nov. 9 with a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. The final numbers were significant for the highly-touted freshman, posting the first double-double in a season opener for a Panther frosh since Tony Meier recorded a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds against Loyola Marymount on November 14, 2008. His point total of 21 was also the highest for a freshman in a season opener since Clay Tucker lit up Central Michigan for 24 in his MKE debut in the 1999 opener - a game Tucker sank a three at the buzzer to win. In addition, it marks only the fourth time since Meier that a frosh has netted double-figures in the opener: Jeremy Johnson had 11 against MSOE in 2016-17, Justin Jordan finished with 11 in the 2014-15 debut against Auburn, and Grant Coleman had 14 off the bench against Kansas State a season ago.

IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT
It was a long time coming for Vin Baker Jr., taking the court November 9 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season - a span of 993 days. Since that date, Baker Jr. spent the 2019-20 season sitting with Milwaukee due to transfer regulations and then missing all of the 2020-21 campaign due to injury.  But he came up big against North Dakota, contributing 11 points off the bench, including an emphatic dunk in the closing minutes that put the game away and set off a huge celebration on the MKE bench. His 11 points tied his career-best, matching the 11 he scored against Pittsburgh in Feb. 2018.

MELO MAKES HIS MARK
Donovan Newby is coming off a solid true freshman campaign last winter and got the 2021-22 campaign started with a bang - hitting for what was then a career-high 12 points off the bench in the win over North Dakota Nov. 9. He made 3-of-6 shots from the floor and all four of his free throws, quickly topping his high-water mark of 10 points that he recorded against both Cleveland State and IUPUI in late January last winter.

AND WE'RE OFF
A couple of different looks to the season opener, which saw Milwaukee playing its opening game of the season on the road for the sixth time in the last nine years. The team is now 19-13 in season openers since returning to the NCAA Division I ranks full-time in 1990-91, which also includes a 72-62 victory over Concordia Wisconsin to start the 2019-20 slate two years ago. In all, the Panthers have also posted a 5-12 mark in season openers played away from home in that span. On the flip side, MKE is 26-5 in that same stretch in home openers, claiming victories in 19 of the past 21 (13 in a row at one point). This was the fifth opener for head coach Pat Baldwin, having gone 2-2 over the previous four seasons at the helm (the team fell at Kansas State last year, 76-75).

WELCOME TO MKE!
Brian Taylor and Dylan Arnett have signed their National Letters of Intent to play for the Panthers next year. Taylor, a 6-foot-4, 170-pound point guard, is set for his senior season at DeSmet Jesuit High School in St. Louis. This will be his third year as the starter and excels on both ends of the court. A year ago, he averaged a team-best 13.2 points in addition to 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game in helping the Spartans finish 15-7 and a spot in the State Class 5 quarterfinals. Arnett is a senior at DePaul College Prep in Chicago and was a big contributor on the No. 1 team in the state of Illinois that ranked No. 23 nationally last year. A 6-foot-9 forward who can run the floor, Arnett vaulted up the City/Suburban Hoops Report's Class of 2022 rankings after earning Chicagoland Prep Hoops Sixth Man of the Year honors.

GETTING THINGS ROLLING
The Panthers had a pair of players on the Preseason All-Horizon League Team, with Patrick Baldwin Jr. on the First Team and key returner DeAndre Gholston a member of the Second Team. It's the second straight season the Panthers have had at least one honoree, with Te'Jon Lucas tabbed for second team status last year. Gholston led the Panthers in scoring (16.8 ppg) last winter.

LOOKING TO ADD TO DRE'S DAY
DeAndre Gholston made an immediate splash in his first season with the Panthers, starting all 22 games while leading the team in scoring (369 points/16.8 ppg), minutes (33.1 mpg), and steals (25 steals) and also finishing second in rebounds (114 rebounds/5.2 rpg). He connected on 43.9 percent (127-of-289) of his field goals, 37.4 percent (46-of-123) of his 3's, and 80.2 percent (69-of-86) of his free throws, finishing fifth in the Horizon League in scoring, sixth in free-throw percentage, 11th in 3FG/G (2.1), 13th in minutes, 20th in steals, and 23rd in rebounding. Dre also paced MKE with 19 games of double-figure scoring, including a team-high eight games of 20-or-more (a season-high of 31). In the end, he led the team in scoring nine times and in rebounding on six occasions.

WINTER SPORTS SPECTATOR POLICY
The Milwaukee Athletic Department looks forward to welcoming fans to all home Panther athletics events this winter. Consistent with the decision made by the university in August, there will be no limit on the capacity of our venues. However, in accordance with the CDC, Milwaukee Public Health Department recommendations and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus policies, masks will be required for all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, at UWM Panther Arena this season.

COMEBACK KIDS DEFINE THE PHRASE
The Panthers  picked up the nickname "Comeback Kids" last year after a roller coaster of decisions that saw the team record victories in four different games after trailing by at least 10 points in the contest. The 94-92 quarterfinal victory over Wright State, however, took it to a whole new level. In roaring back from that 24-point deficit, the team claimed some unique status:

*The Panthers had a win probability of 0.03% at its lowest point, per KenPom, matching the largest since KenPom began tracking it.
*KenPom also ranked Milwaukee's win against Wright State as No. 1 and its Jan. 23 victory against Cleveland State No. 2 as the top comebacks in the NCAA this season.
*Second-largest deficit EVER overcome in NCAA history over the final 5 minutes of a game (MKE trailed by 18 at the 5:00-mark, two other teams all-time won after being down 19. Nevada in January 2017 and Western Carolina in November 2019).
*Milwaukee matched its largest deficit overcome in school history, equaling the effort in the 81-75 victory over UC Davis on November 15, 2008. That day, UWM also made up a 24-point deficit, trailing 51-27, with 54 points in the second half.
*For reference, the only other comeback of 20-or-more points in MKE's DI history occurred in a contest where they rallied from a 21-point second-half deficit against Virginia Tech in December of 2001.

The question of "HOW?" gets thrown around discussing the end of regulation. Over the final 6:26, the Panthers went 11-for-13 from the field (4-6 on 3's), 7-for-9 from the free throw line and came up with three steals. While doing that, they also held the Raiders to 1-for-7 field-goal shooting and forced six turnovers, while watching WSU hit 7-of-12 free throws.

ICE IN HIS VEINS FOR DRE
DeAndre Gholston went off for a career-high against Wright State in the quarterfinals, finishing with 31 points to top his former best of 29 - which coincidentally also came against the Raiders Feb. 12. It was also his team-best eighth game of 20-or-more points last season, with four of them coming in his last six outings. His 31 included some clutch points - a long 3 from the wing to tie the game with 1.3 seconds left in regulation and a 6-for-6 effort from the line to put MKE ahead to stay in the final 40 seconds of overtime.

OFFENSE ON OVERDRIVE
The 2020-21 campaign was a unique year for Milwaukee basketball to say the least, and the team added another wrinkle to it over the six games ending March 2, scoring 80-or-more points each time. That marked the first stretch of six games at 80-plus points since a stretch of 10 in a row spanning the end of the 1990-91 season (5 games) and the start of 1991-92 (also 5 games). Last year's group of Panthers averaged 85.2 ppg over the last half dozen contests.

PROBABLY IMPROBABLE
The "comeback kids" added another chapter earlier in the 2020-21 campaign, overcoming an early 13-point hole to top IUPUI Jan. 30.  Down 14 points with 2:46 to play against Cleveland State Jan. 23, things looked a bit bleak for the Panthers before pulling off the improbable 81-80 victory. As crazy as it sounds, the team has had three similar finishes in recent history.
*Dec. 13, 2018: Down 9 points with 2:45 to play against Kansas City, MKE scored the final 12 points of the day to turn a 66-57 deficit into a 69-66 victory.
*Nov. 19, 2017: The team erased a 19-point first-half hole against Elon, closing the game on a 12-2 run to earn the buzzer-beating 72-71 victory.
*Jan. 22, 2017: MKE closed regulation on a 13-4 spree against Youngstown State over the final 6:32 to force overtime, eventually winning 94-85.
The last comeback that featured such a quick comeback from a double-digit deficit came Jan. 31, 2009, when the Panthers trailed UIC, 61-51, with 1:27 remaining before winning on a Deion James three-pointer as time expired, 63-62.

MORE FUN IN THE SUN
Former Milwaukee forward Demetrius Harris (2011-13) is once again on the active roster in the National Football League in 2021, currently playing with the Arizona Cardinals following one season each with the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. Harris also established himself in the league with five years on the Kansas City Chiefs. An undrafted free agent to start his career, he made four starts in his 14 appearances this season. Coming into 2021, Harris had caught 79 passes for 799 yards, including nine 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 seventh 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 winner of tonight's game will hit the road and advance to the quarterfinals round of the Keeps Horizon League Championships Thursday evening.