DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A season that exceeded expectations on every level for the Milwaukee men's basketball team came to a close Monday night, falling to Charlotte in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center.
The Panthers (22-12) spent the second half making runs against the 49ers (20-14), but were unable to close the gap in falling by a final score of 76-65.
BJ Freeman led the way for the offense, finishing with 15 points.
Markeith Browning II added 13 points, six rebounds, and two steals, while
Justin Thomas chipped in a 9-point/5-rebound/3-assist performance.
Brice Williams paced CLT with a game-high 25 points, including a red-hot start where he hit his first five field goals and had 17 of the team's 34 points at halftime.
The 2022-23 campaign comes to a close for head coach
Bart Lundy, with year No. 1 of his tenure a tremendous success. The Panthers went from 10-22 to 22-12, a 12-win improvement in just 12 months. The team won 20 games for the 11
th time in school history as well as for the first time 2015-16, and won a postseason contest for the first time in 17 years.
"Really proud of these guys," Lundy said. "They gave everything to the program, to the University, and to the city. I especially want to recognize the seniors. Ahmad (Rand) came here as a walk-on … Moses (Bol) – once he got healthy, was a game-changer for us. And Vin Baker, who didn't personally get what he wanted, stuck with this team and this coaching staff and showed great character. I just told those guys they would have me for life and we couldn't have done it without them."
In the end, the team set new programs records with its 186 blocked shots (record was 125), 2,659 total points (was 2,618), 944 field-goals made (879), 2,062 field-goal attempts (1,950), 1,330 total rebounds (1,241), 39.1 rpg average (38.4), as well as Top 5 marks in numerous other categories.
"Proud of everyone," Lundy said. "Proud of our fanbase and our city for really starting to support us. And I believe that this is the first step. That we will continue to build. Hopefully we get a good group of these guys back and we will add pieces – we are already adding pieces – and it's going to be a great thing here at Milwaukee. This type of season will become the norm."
A slow start on this Monday evening hurt MKE's chances out of the gate. The 49ers came out firing with the first eight points of the contest and a lead of 18-7. A quick 11-3 push by Milwaukee had the team back within three at 21-18 on a fastbreak layup from Thomas, but Charlotte turned the tide and led, 34-27, at the break.
"The early hole really hurt," Lundy said. "We had to press them and it was a desperation-type press. You spend that much energy coming back and then they make a couple of shots and it's really deflating. That's where they would go on those mini-runs and we would reel it back in. They made enough plays to keep it at arm's length. Some of that is growth for our team, but it's hard to be behind a team like Charlotte."
They then scored the first six of the second half to push the lead to double-figures at 40-27, holding off every serious threat the rest of the way to advance to the semifinals. The Panthers made a final last push, seeing Browning convert a three-point play that cut a 10-point deficit (at 52-42) down to five at 52-47. But an 8-0 run sealed the fate and pushed the lead back to 60-47 with 10 minutes remaining.
The team took huge steps this season, finishing in second place in the Horizon League standings for its best finish since 2010-11. The Panthers also played in the postseason for the first time since 2014 and were the only Horizon League team (out of four) to win a postseason contest.
"This 1-1 (at the CBI) was huge," Lundy said. "The win last night was huge. It's a postseason victory and I hope our fans grasp how difficult that is to get and how few teams get them. To have 13 new players come together, play together, and accomplish what they did and earn this postseason opportunity – it's not easy to come to the CBI. We played Stetson in basically a home game for them … that Charlotte team is a veteran team outside of one guy. We have been doing it all year and just proud of what they did and it was a huge building block for our program. They will learn from the experience, they will learn from the basketball side of it, and the next time we are here, they will remember it."
The fanbase grew more and more rejuvenated as the season progressed and the team built a buzz in the city as winter carried on, with Lundy leading the charge as the face of the program.
"And they supported us," Lundy said of the fans. "What did we have, 800 fans at the first game and then we packed the K out in our last game at home. And we played Wright State – who won the league last year and had beaten us twice this season – and those fans helped us beat Wright State. And the media in the city, the fans, and the alumni from all over have just emerged and it's our responsibility to keep that going. And that's what we will do. We will be intentional about how we make moves with our roster and hopefully this 22-win season is just the tip of the iceberg of what we can do here."
