GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team took over in the second half, using an 18-3 run to break open what was a close game and claim a commanding 95-84 victory over Green Bay in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Barbasol Horizon League Championships Thursday night at the Kress Center.
BJ Freeman was at it again, leading the way with 32 points as the sixth-seeded Panthers (19-14) won the rematch with the third-seeded Phoenix (18-14) and punched their ticket to Indianapolis next week for the remainder of the postseason event.
"I am proud of our guys," head coach
Bart Lundy said. "I am proud of the journey we have been on. It's been the most difficult year for me as a head coach with injuries. To get these guys back healthy at this time and overcome all the bumps and bruises we took early and then to come and get a win like this and get back to Indy … it is great."
Freeman went off in the second half, scoring 21 of his 32 after intermission while adding eight rebounds and five assists. Not only was it his ninth consecutive outing of 20-or-more points, but also back-to-back 30-point efforts in the postseason.
"Really nice to get another crack at that (trip to Indy) with these guys and I think we are a tough out," Lundy said. "We are clicking pretty good and have a lot of guys giving us great contributions."
Faizon Fields was just as big, finishing a rebound short of a double-double with 19 points and nine boards. He was nearly flawless from the field, making 7-of-8 attempts while adding three blocks.
Erik Pratt was also in double-figures once again, finishing with 15 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 showing from the line while adding four assists.
Noah Reynolds returned from injury to score 27 points to lead GB, adding six assists.
"It was great to see BJ and Reynolds on the floor together at the same time," Lundy said. "It was great to see them because in the first two matchups, BJ was out the first one and Reynolds the second one."
Milwaukee used a strong 11-5 start out of the gates and led for the majority of the first half, eventually settling into a slim 39-35 lead at the break.
Green Bay had rallied late in the first and carried that momentum over into the second, scoring what was 12 straight points spanning the two halves to erase an eight-point hole late in the first to take a two-possession advantage at 43-39 just 90 seconds into the period.
"Just a great college basketball game – great for the state," Lundy said. "They came out in the second half and really threw a couple of punches at us. We called a timeout and I thought the guys really responded."
Freeman made a layup on the next possession and it was back-and-forth from there, with neither team leading by more than two possessions for an extended period of time – eventually reaching 54-54 with 12:46 left before the contest turned in favor of the visitors.
Freeman started it off with a layup and a quick-release deep three and
Langston Wilson's slam dunk made it a 7-0 spurt and forced a GB timeout.
It wasn't even close to done there, as Freeman converted another drive, Fields put home a dunk, and a pair of Freeman free throws gave the Panthers a 67-54 advantage and capped that 18-3 run (also 13 straight) at the 9:50 mark.
The lead dropped below 10 on only one occasion the rest of the way in another dominant second half performance by Milwaukee. The Panthers connected on 52.5 percent (32-of-61) from the floor and held the Phoenix to just 42.6 percent (29-of-68) overall. The MKE offense dominated points in the paint at 54-36 and also won the rebounding battle, 39-35.
With the win, the Panthers advance in the Barbasol Horizon League Tournament Championships and will prepare to make the trip to Indianapolis for semifinals and the championship for the second consecutive season, set for March 11-12. They will take No. 5 Northern Kentucky Monday in a contest scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. CT.
