MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee men's basketball team opened the game scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the contest and was in control from start to finish in claiming an 89-67 victory over Detroit Mercy Saturday afternoon on "Senior Day" at UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Panthers (21-10, 14-6 Horizon League) led the Titans (8-23, 4-16 Horizon League) by a dozen at the break and, after the visitors made a push to get within 10 in the second half, saw the MKE offense put its foot on the gas to cruise to the victory and improve to a perfect 7-0 in the series since head coach Bart Lundy's arrival.
 
"Detroit has struggled with a bunch of injuries and some ups and downs, but I thought they really played tough against us," Lundy said. "We started that funky lineup with the seniors – four guards – and they played way better than we could have hoped. We got off to a good start and I thought our defensive intensity was really good. We got great contributions up and down the lineup."
 
Kentrell Pullian led five players in double-figures with a game-high 18 points, making 5-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the line while adding three rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists.
 
Jamichael Stillwell added his 16^th double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, with Themus Fulks also contributing a statline of 16 points to go along with nine assists.
 
Erik Pratt got the senior-day start and finished with 15 points, AJ McKee rounding out the list in double-figures with 11.
 
TJ Nadeau led the Titans with 15 points, with Emmanuel Kuac adding a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards.
 
Milwaukee came out red-hot, shooting out of the gates ahead 10-2. The lead hit double-figures at 19-7 on a three from John Lovelace Jr. as the team hit the break up 12 at 43-31 after leading by as many as 16.
 
The Titans had one last push, pulling back to within 10 at 60-50 before an 11-2 MKE run extended the lead back to 19 at 71-52 on a basket by Aaron Franklin with 8:56 remaining. The lead would then grow to as many as 27 before settling in with the 22-point decision.
 
For the game, Milwaukee finished at 52.4 percent (33-of-63) from the floor overall, 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from deep, and 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the free throw line. The Titans finished at 48.1 percent (25-of-52) overall, 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from downtown, and 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the line, but did become just the fifth team to win the rebound battle (31-29).
 
The Panthers did record 48 points in the paint and added 34 more fastbreak points to help out their No. 1 ranking in the NCAA coming into the day.
 
The program honored its graduating members on "Senior Day" in a pregame ceremony. Congratulations to #1 Themus Fulks, #4 Kentrell Pullian, #5 AJ McKee, #8 Erik Pratt, #22 Faizon Fields, and #34 Darius Duffy. Team manager Garrett Klein was also honored with them.
 
Up next, as the No. 3 seed, the Panthers will receive a bye from the first round (played Tuesday) and host the highest remaining seed following the conclusion of those contests. That game is scheduled to take place on Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m. and will be held in the Klotsche Center on the UWM campus.