DAVIS, Calif. – Faizon Fields hit a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds remaining and the Milwaukee men's basketball team defended a final attempt at the buzzer to claim an exciting 81-79 victory over UC Davis Saturday at University Credit Union Center.
The Panthers (4-6) overcame an early 12-point deficit and shot a season-high 58.5 percent (31-of-53) as a team from the floor to down the Aggies (3-5) in a thriller that featured seven ties and 11 lead changes, making several key plays down the stretch to pick up the victory.
"I think this group is playing much better basketball – playing together, guarding harder, and giving ourselves a chance to win," head coach
Bart Lundy said. "It's been a resilient group. It has been a hard road here, we've now played in all four time zones to start the season and we are really, really happy with their spirit and camaraderie and they are pulling for each other – it's a good locker room."
Erik Pratt led the way in a balanced team effort, setting a career high for the second straight contest in finishing with 18 points, adding three rebounds and four assists.
Aaron Franklin also posted a career-best effort, scoring 15 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds.
Markeith Browning II joined them in double-figures with 10, while
Learic Davis added a line of 8 points/4 rebounds that also marked career highs in both categories for the newcomer.
"It was a really good team effort," Lundy said. "Learic (Davis) played a career-high in minutes,
Angelo Stuart came up with three huge 3's,
Erik Pratt put together another really good game, and you can keep going down the line. We went into it a little depleted but sometimes guys see an opportunity and rise to the occasion and we had that today."
It was a big night for the MKE subs, finishing with a 41-5 advantage in bench points in the matchup.
Elijah Pepper and Ty Johnson each finished with 28 points apiece to lead the way for UC Davis.
Davis hit a late three and Pratt sank a long two at the halftime buzzer to give Milwaukee the 39-35 edge at the break, setting the stage for an exciting second half.
Pepper, who came into the game in the Top 25 in the nation in scoring, turned a layup, foul, and technical into six straight by the home team and a 48-42 lead.
Pratt hit a three to stem the tide and a Franklin triple had MKE within a bucket at 52-50 with 15:28 left in the contest. A layup from Duffy on the next possession drew the team even and a free throw from Browning gave the Panthers the 53-52 lead. From there it was back-and-forth, with neither side leading by more than four for an extended period of time.
Five lead changes later, with the Aggies ahead 75-73, Pratt was fouled from long-range and calmly made all three free throws to flip the scoreboard once again. Angleo Stuart then buried a big three – one of three he had on the night – to give Milwaukee the 79-75 lead with 1:41 remaining.
Tied again on a Pepper layup with 46 seconds left, Fields was fouled on a defensive rebound attempt with time winding down. He calmly went to the line with just 2.9 ticks left and made both, setting the stage for a final attempt after an Aggie timeout. The defense held and Milwaukee headed home with the big victory.
It was the defense that shined in the first half, helping the team dig out of an early 21-9 hole. An 11-3 run was capped by a Stuart 3 to make it 24-20 and Fields second-effort putback gave the Panthers their first lead, part of a 10-0 run that made it 32-28 and forced a Davis timeout.
"We track three stops in a row – we call it turkeys – and in the first half, we had four and we haven't guarded like that in a while, so that was good," Lundy said. "They shot a bunch of free throws in the second half but we kept scoring, kept making baskets."
In addition to the strong shooting from the floor, MKE also connected on 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the line for the night and won the rebounding battle, 33-27.
Up next, the team finally gets to return home, welcoming Longwood to UWM Panther Arena Wednesday. The tip time is set for 7 p.m.
