MILWAUKEE – Josh Dixon scored a season-high 24 points and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 15 seconds of regulation to help the Milwaukee men's basketball team escape with an 88-87 victory over South Dakota State Friday night in the "Milwaukee Hoops Showdown" at Fiserv Forum.
 
"First of all, I want to recognize how good and well-coached that South Dakota State team is," head coach Bart Lundy said postgame. "They are a really good team, and they are going to win a lot of games. Looking at the opponent, I told our guys after the game, that if we come in on a neutral floor and win this game, we'll be just fine in the [Horizon] league."
 
Dixon played an instrumental role in the victory, going 8-of-18 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line. He added four assists and five rebounds in making his first collegiate start.
 
"I thought we some really good runs, and we had some times where we got down and we could have let the lead expand for them and we showed some grit and determination," Lundy said. "We had so many contributions – Josh Dixon, in his first start as a true freshman, really was phenomenal."
 
In a game that featured eight ties and 10 lead changes, Milwaukee went ahead on back-to-back three-pointers from Amar Augillard with five minutes to go, holding off the Jackrabbits late comeback effort the rest of the way.
 
Augillard was just as big, finishing with 23 points – with 20 of them coming after halftime and many of them as the MKE offense rallied from a deficit in the closing minutes. He went 7-of-16 from the floor and made 5-of-10 three-pointers, going 4-for-4 from the line.

"Amar came off the bench and just did what Amar does," Lundy said. "And it's really good for us to see him break out … 20 points after halftime, just game-breaking shots that allowed us to keep the lead. So, really happy for Amar and hope we can keep that rolling for him. Really happy for our group."
 
Danilo Jovanovich joined them in double-figures, scoring 17 points on a terrific night from the floor in which went made eight of his 10 attempts. He also recorded eight rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
 
Faizon Fields chipped in a 9-point/8-rebound statline despite battling foul trouble, while Chandler Jackson added seven points and four rebounds in 20 important minutes, as the Panthers were playing very shorthanded due to injuries, down two more rotation players (Stevie Elam/Sekou Konneh) who missed tonight's contest.
 
"D-Lo (Jovanovich) was D-Lo, he was really good all day," Lundy said. "Some guys that won't show up so much on the stat sheet – Simeon Murchison made so many defensive stops for us. He was huge in being able to get us through some of that foul trouble. And then Aaron Franklin in that first half on the glass – six defensive rebounds before he cramped up."
 
South Dakota State was paced by Jaden Jackson's 23 points and Kalen Garry's 18.
 
MKE came out hot, taking leads of 8-2 and then 15-4 on a Jovanovich fadeaway at the 14:52 mark. South Dakota State eventually settled in and pushed back, taking a 24-23 advantage with 8:44 left in the first.
 
The lead grew to as big as seven at 36-29 with under three remaining. From there it was all Panthers, scoring 10 of the final 12 points before intermission, taking a 39-38 edge on a Dixon floater.
 
The second half was back-and-forth early, with Augillard sparking the offense at one point all by himself. His 3 on the break extended the lead to 64-58, only to see the Jackrabbits respond with a 9-0 run to forge ahead 67-66 with 6:45 to play.
 
Augillard then struck again, scoring five in a row to knot the contest at 69-all before another swish from the corner gave the contest its final lead change at 72-69. He ended up scoring 13 consecutive MKE points, with Milwaukee taking the 77-73 lead with under four to play.
 
From there, they fended off the late charge, with Dixon calmy sinking a pair with both :15 and :05 on the clock before a late Jackrabbit three accounted for the one-point decision.
 
For the game, Milwaukee shot 46.4 percent (32-of-69) from the field and 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from beyond the arc, while the Jackrabbits finished with 50 percent (33-of-66) shooting overall, 39.4 percent (13-of-33) from deep. The Panthers also won the battle of the boards, 43-31 – against a team allowing a Summit-League low 31 rebounds a game so far this season – and held the edge in bench scoring. A big difference also came in points off turnovers: MKE had 10 miscues to its opponent's nine, but put up an impressive 18-9 advantage in points off those turnovers.
 
Up next, the Panthers return to Horizon League play next, traveling to Ohio to take on Cleveland State Sunday, Dec. 21.