HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team led from start to finish in claiming an impressive 79-59 victory over Northern Kentucky Friday night at Truist Arena.
 
The Panthers (15-7, 8-3 Horizon League) scored 11 of the first 15 points of the night and never looked back against the Norse (9-12, 4-6 Horizon League), sweeping the NKU/Wright State road trip for the first time since Northern Kentucky joined the Horizon League for the 2015-16 season.
 
"I thought we were really tough tonight," head coach Bart Lundy said. "NKU is a really good team. They are a very good program and have a great coach. So to be able to come into here and perform the way we did, I thought our team showed toughness and grit in every way. We really defended and rebounded and found a way to make some shots against their zone defense."
 
Erik Pratt tied his season-high with a 20-point performance, shooting the lights out from deep. He went 7-for-12 from the floor overall, but hit 4-of-5 from three-point range, including three straight swishes over a span of 2:31 on the clock down the stretch that iced the victory for the team and put to end any thoughts of a late comeback by the Norse. Pratt added two assists and three steals and did it all in just 23 minutes on the court.
 
Kentrell Pullian added 15 points, including 13 in the first half alone. He was the star of the show to open the contest, swishing a trio of shots from three-point range in the opening minutes to account for nine of the MKE points in its 11-4 start to begin the contest.
 
"KP (Pullian) got off to the hot start to begin with and then Erik (Pratt), those 3's were really daggers and really separated us and the game was over," Lundy said. "It was really good to see Erik play like that."
 
Jamichael Stillwell just missed his 13^th double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Themus Fulks contributed a statline of 8 points/7 assists/3 rebounds in the victory.
 
Trey Robinson led the way for the Norse in points (11) and rebounds (6), with Milwaukee extending the NKU losing streak to five games in a row with the easy decision.
 
"We were not in a great place after the Robert Morris loss," Lundy said. "But friction causes traction and these guys have good traction. Hopefully we can bottle this up and keep going."
 
Pullian fueled the 11-4 start and a Fulks' layup pushed it to 10 quickly at 14-4 just 4:13 into the night. Another Fulks fastbreak hoop forced a timeout by the home side at 29-20 and eventually a run of 14-2 by the Panthers grew the lead to 39-22 on a three by AJ McKee with 1:43 left before intermission.
 
Milwaukee kept its foot on the gas pedal, shotting over 60 percent in the second half (13-21/.619) in continuing to build its advantage.
 
The lead was down to 13 at 48-35, but seven in a row had the team up by 20 for the first time at 55-35 on a layup from Faizon Fields. The Panthers led by as many as 26 on a Pratt triple that made it 72-46 with six minutes remaining and it was essentially over at that point.
 
The team finished the evening shooting 56.9 percent (29-of-51), its third-best showing of the season. They hit 50 percent (9-of-18) from deep and claimed the rebound battle yet again at 33-20 and also had 21 more fastbreak points. NKU finished at 42.9 percent (24-of-56) overall and hit on just 14.3 percent (3-of-21) from three-point range, which included just one make in the first 17 attempts.
 
Up next, the team will head home and enjoy over a week break, returning to the court to host Purdue Fort Wayne next Sunday, Feb. 2. Game time against the Mastodons is set for 2 p.m.