MILWAUKEE – Jamichael Stillwell tied the program record with his fourth consecutive double-double and the Milwaukee men's basketball team pulled away from North Central (Ill.) for a 92-57 win Sunday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.
 
Back in the Mid-Major Top 25 this week at No. 22, the Panthers (9-4) extended their current win streak to four in a row with the decisive victory over the Cardinals while also improving to 6-0 at home – the best start at home for the program since opening the 2005-06 campaign at 10-0.
 
Stillwell, who came into the day leading the NCAA at 12.1 rebounds per game, finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes while extending his double-double streak to four in a row to equal the program record set by BJ Freeman last season.
 
"Give North Central credit," head coach Bart Lundy said. "They're got a really excellent team and they were missing their best player, one of the best players in school history. So had they had him, it could have been a different game."
 
Erik Pratt scored a game and season-high 20 points in a very efficient outing, going 5-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the line in just over 20 minutes of action. He had 14 by halftime to help the team turn the tide.
 
"We talked a lot about coming out playing the right way," Lundy said. "These guys are mostly leaving this afternoon [for Christmas break] and I thought that we came out with not-great energy and not playing the type of basketball we had been playing. But I thought after halftime especially, they all kind of got back on the same page. I thought overall we did some good things when we needed to and they picked the defensive pressure up in second half."
 
Learic Davis added a career-best 12 points, making 6-of-9 field goals while adding three rebounds. Kentrell Pullian chipped in 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. AJ McKee was also in double-figures with 10 points, adding four boards. Themus Fulks just missed a double-double of his own with nine points and a season-high nine assists.
 
Sean Molloy led North Central with eight points, with the team going 19 players deep on the afternoon.
 
The visitors made it interesting early, holding advantages of 14-12 and still at 16-15 at the 10:55 mark. A 12-2 run gave Milwaukee the 27-18 advantage and momentum pretty much the rest of the way.
 
The lead was 10 for the first time at 33-23 on a pair of Pratt free throws and then hit 20 on a deep three from Pullian at 50-30 early in the second half. The biggest the margin would get was 35, coming on a Davis layup to make it 85-50 down the stretch.
 
The Panthers finished at 43.1 percent (31-of-72) for the game, seeing the Cardinals finish at the exact same mark (.431/22-51). MKE claimed the rebounding battle at 45-32 and scored a points-in-the-paint advantage of 50-20.
 
The Panthers have one contest remaining to close out the month of December and will again be played on campus. Up next, the team welcomes IU Indy in a return to league play, set to start at 2 p.m. from the Klotsche Center next week Sunday.