AKRON, Ohio – Akron went on a pivotal scoring run to start the second half and that was enough to pull away from the Milwaukee men's basketball team and claim the win Saturday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.
The Zips (6-2) continue to be one of the best home teams in the country, with the victory over the Panthers (3-5) helping them run their current winning streak at home to 20 games overall and improve to 41 consecutive wins against non-conference opponents at home – a streak that dates back to December of 2018.
Danilo Jovanovich led Milwaukee with a career-high 21-point effort, finishing 9-of-14 from the floor overall (3-of-4 from three-point range) while adding four rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Stevie Elam contributed his highest scoring and rebounding outputs of the season, finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds, making 4-of-9 from deep.
Seth Hubbard joined them in double-figures with 15 points, adding six boards and a team-high five assists. The team was without starter
Faizon Fields, who missed the game due to illness.
"Missing Faizon was big; he covers up a lot of mistakes that we make defensively," head coach
Bart Lundy said. "Akron has a very veteran group, and they run a really good offense. They can hurt you in a lot of ways and really exploited some of the mistakes that we made."
Akron, ranked No. 7 in the most recent College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll and tabbed first in the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, shot well the entire contest, finishing at 65.0 percent (39-of-60) from the field. The Zips were led by a career-high 25 points from Amani Lyles, one of seven in double-figures.
The home side led 14-7 early after an even 7-7 open to the night, but a three from Elam cut the deficit to just one at 19-18 at the 12:39 mark and a layup on the fastbreak from
Josh Dixon made it a two-possession game at 31-26 with under eight minutes left before intermission.
The Zips got a big three in front of the halftime horn and opened the second half by scoring 20 of the first 26 points to put the distance between the two teams that the Panthers could never dig out of in the eventual 105-81 decision.
"It started with the last possession of the first half," Lundy said. "We had a chance to be down just 10 going into the locker room. We go down 13 and then we knew the first four minutes of the second half would be crucial and we just didn't stop them."
Milwaukee lost the rebounding battle by just one at 38-37 but connected on under 40 percent from the floor overall to hamper its chances.
The Panthers have run into opposition with outstanding home records during the non-conference portion of the schedule to this point. Their last four road games have come against teams that are now a combined 18-0 at home in 2025-26: Akron (4-0/won 20 straight), Wichita State (4-0), Texas Tech (4-0/41 straight at home vs. non-conference opponents), and Indiana (6-0).
"Right now, I am hoping that it doesn't destroy our team," Lundy said of the tough road stretch in the schedule. "It's been too much … too many road games in a row. And then you add the sickness and some injury, and this has been a rough stretch. But it will be good to have more common opponents coming up and just to have some home games. It will be nice to just be home."
Up next, the Panthers return home to open December with the first Horizon League game of the season, welcoming Robert Morris next week Saturday. Tip off time at UWM Panther Arena is set for 7 p.m. against the Colonials.
