BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Danilo Jovanovich scored a career-high 18 points and the Milwaukee men's basketball team was right with Indiana until early in the second half in falling in non-conference action Wednesday evening in front of a crowd of 17,222 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
 
The Panthers (2-2) played the Hoosiers (3-0) point-for-point for the majority of the first half, seeing the home side gain some separation just before intermission and then use a big second half to claim the victory.
 
"I thought we handled the atmosphere and the scoring runs that they made in the first half – we handled it well," head coach Bart Lundy said. "Adversity with calls … the crowd – I thought we handled that with maturity, I just wish we had gotten a few more stops in the first half."
 
Jovanovich was outstanding, scoring 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, blowing past his former NCAA-best of 12. He added a team-high six rebounds to his night.
 
Seth Hubbard finished with 17 points, grabbing five rebounds of his own. Amar Augillard was also in double-figures with 14, contributing five boards and three assists.
 
"I thought we got excellent games from Seth – on both sides of the ball – and from Danilo," Lundy said. "He held Tucker DeVries to 12 points [4-of-10 FG] and it took him until the end to get double-figures. He was awesome and had a career-high on the offensive end. I felt Faizon (Fields) and Tate (Mackenzie) defensively, at the rim, were elite. It's hard when they spread you out. This is an opponent that has Final Four potential and if a few things go differently, it's a different game. I see the growth in our team – if we stay together, we are going to continue to be really hard to beat."
 
Lamar Wilkerson had a game-high 24 points for IU, which made 14 3's on the night as a team. Tayton Conerway added 21 points for home side, which came in averaging 99.0 points per game on the season and is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls this week.
 
An even game early, the Hoosiers kept up the pressure with red-hot shooting from downtown, making 70 percent (7-of-10) over the first 20 minutes. Augillard connected on back-to-back triples and MKE was back within five at 21-16 at the midway point of the first.
 
Josh Dixon came in and hit a pair of key baskets, forcing an IU timeout at the 8:33 mark with the scoreboard reading 26-21. A few minutes later it was again a two-possession game at 31-26. The Hoosiers kept Milwaukee at arm's length the rest of the period and took a 51-39 advantage into the locker room.
 
Milwaukee continued to stick around in the second half, getting back the deficit back under 10 at 53-44 on a three-point play from Augillard at the 17:22 mark.
 
From there the Hoosiers took control. They used an 11-2 run to gain important separation and then kept up the offensive pressure the rest of the way to secure the 101-70 victory. The home team ended the night at 56.7 percent (34-of-60) from the floor overall, making half of its 28 attempts from downtown.
 
Milwaukee wrapped up the night at 46.8 percent (29-of-62) overall but hit 30 percent from distance and 40 percent from the line to thwart its upset chances.
 
It's no rest for the Panthers, who will have just one day off before remaining on the road to take on nationally-ranked Texas Tech Friday. Game time is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff against the No. 11 Red Raiders.