WICHITA, Kan. – The Milwaukee men's basketball team led by as many as 11 points in the first half and was within four points with six minutes remaining in regulation before Wichita State closed strongly to claim a 75-58 victory Saturday evening from Charles Koch Arena.
 
"We missed some good looks and made some crucial mistakes down the stretch – not only the team, but a couple of crucial coaching mistakes as well," head coach Bart Lundy said. "You know, we are getting better. We played 30 minutes of really good basketball tonight, but to win in an environment like this, it has to be 40. And then I gambled at the end, and it made the margin bigger than it should have been. I like where are team is going. If we can stay together, we will keep progressing."
 
The Panthers (2-4) came out of the gates and used a big first-half run to take early control against the Shockers (4-1), leading 26-15 with about six minutes left before intermission.
 
The home side righted the ship with a 13-4 spurt of its own to make it a two-point game at the break. They pulled off another vital run in the closing minutes, scoring 19 of the final 25 points of the contest to improve to a perfect 4-0 at home on the young season.
 
"We need practice time, we need to be home a little bit," Lundy said about the recent schedule. "We are starting to see what the team can become. It's just been a really hard road stretch against teams that never lose at home. It's been a good challenge and hopefully we are better for it."
 
Danilo Jovanovich led the way for the Panthers with 12 points and four rebounds, while Seth Hubbard added 10 points and a game-high five assists. Amar Augillard chipped in nine points (3-8 from three-point range) and Stevie Elam finished with eight. Faizon Fields had five points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, with Aaron Franklin second in that category with seven boards in just 11 minutes off the bench.
 
Wichita State was paced by Kenyon Giles, who warmed up down the stretch to finish with 24 points, converting 7-13 from the floor and 4-7 from beyond the arc. T.J. Williams added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Shockers.
 
Milwaukee opened the game aggressively and built that early lead in the first half as it leveraged their transition and solid defense. Jovanovich made a fastbreak layup to give MKE its first lead at 14-13 and it took off from there. Eleven straight points made it 19-13 and forced a Wichita State timeout. It was 15-0 after a turnover and hoop from Hubbard and Milwaukee took its largest lead on its next possession – with Elam draining one from deep to give the team that 26-15 advantage.
 
The Shockers responded before halftime and turned the tide in the second half with a couple of long runs, including a run that widened the margin to double digits and kept the Panthers at arm's length. That came after the contest was back-and-forth for an extended time, with Hubbard making consecutive baskets to get back within four at 56-52 with 6:06 remaining.
 
The Panthers would get plenty of open shots, only to see many close-calls and rim-outs hold up any comeback options.
 
The MKE defense held the opponent to 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the floor overall, but could not overcome the below-40 percent (.356/21-of-59) on the other side of the floor despite leading for nearly 15 minutes of the night on the scoreboard.
 
Up next, the Panthers return home for the early portion of Thanksgiving Week, hosting Dominican at the Klotsche Center Tuesday. Game time is set for 6 p.m. that evening.