PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Kentrell Pullian scored a season-high 22 points and the Milwaukee men's basketball team closed out the victory with a 5-for-6 showing from the free throw line in the final 15 seconds of regulation to claim an 80-74 victory over Duquesne Tuesday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
The Panthers (2-2) led by double-figures for a large stretch against the Dukes (0-4) following a big first-half scoring run. However, it took key makes by Pullian and
John Lovelace Jr. in a decisive 15-5 scoring run down the stretch to secure the big victory, coming on the road against a team that won 25 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
"We have had a rough stretch, playing really good teams on the road, out of region, in front of their crowds – so you have to overcome all of it," head coach
Bart Lundy said. "This is a good Duquesne team that will get it together and we will look back and this will be a big win for us. KP (Pullian) had a great game and I thought John Lovelace off the bench was fantastic, and Jermichael (Stillwell) was awesome on the boards."
Pullian added seven rebounds to his game-high 22-point night, going 3-for-5 from deep while adding four steals.
He was one of five players in double-figures as MKE connected on 52 percent of its shots from the floor overall, with
Jamichael Stillwell adding his second double-double of the young season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
AJ McKee and
Themus Fulks each finished with 15 points, with Fulks adding four rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals. Fulks also came through with two made free throws with 15.1 seconds left and two more with 0.5 on the scoreboard to wrap up the contest.
"We've got some veterans out there, but we also have some guys that have never been in these situations," Lundy said. "Once we were able to get the right lineups for our late-game situations, we thought they did a good job … five out of six in the last minute from the free throw line when we had struggled earlier – I am proud of them for closing it out."
Lovelace Jr. contributed 11 points in just 17 minutes off the bench, adding a perfect 6-for-6 showing from the free throw line.
Jake DiMichele (21 points) and Tre Dinkins (20 points) led the way for Duquesne.
The visitors jumped ahead at the start, with a McKee triple making it 8-3 out of the gates as the team made five of its first seven field goals. Back-and-forth for a bit, Duquesne edged ahead at 24-22 before the first Milwaukee offensive burst. Ten in a row came on a Lovelace jumper to make it 32-24 and McKee added another deep ball to cap the 13-0 run at 35-24. The team would head into the locker room up, 37-28.
The Dukes would have a run, forcing a timeout at 41-35 in front of a Stillwell three. A floater from Pullian had the visitors back ahead by 10 again at 46-36.
The lead was as large as 12, yet was whittled all the way down to 58-56 before the defense kicked in, holding Duquesne without a field goal for a stretch of 6-plus minutes as the game approached five minutes remaining. Fulks drove the lane to get to 60-56 and Pullian drilled a big three-pointer to make it 65-56 and force a timeout by the home side. Lovelace then came up with what looked like the backbreaker with his shot from downtown that pushed the margin to 65-56 with 5:06 to play.
On the night, the MKE offense connected on 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the floor overall, compared to 41.9 percent (25-of-6) from the Dukes. The Panthers won the rebounding battle, 38-33, and also held the edge in points in the paint at 34-32 as well as fastbreak at 13-5.
Up next, the team is back at home to host the "Cream City Challenge" presented by Cream City Mortgage, starting Nov. 22. The event will open Friday with Wofford and St. Thomas starting at 4 p.m., followed by host Milwaukee taking on Portland State at 7 p.m.
