Set to open up season No. 5 under the direction of head coach Bart Lundy, the Milwaukee men's basketball team officially gets the 2026-27 campaign underway when it travels to California to play nationally-ranked USC Monday evening. The matchup against the Trojans, ranked No. 21 in the Preseason Associated Press Top 25, is set to tip-off at 9:30 PM CT on Big Ten Network Plus and will have live statistics available. The audio broadcast will be available on 101.7 FM The Truth and its streaming services, as well as the Varsity Network. Scott Warras is on the call for his 11th season as the voice of the Panthers and all links are posted on the MKE website.

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENT
USC enters Monday's season opener ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press preseason poll, marking the Trojans' first preseason national ranking under third-year head coach Eric Musselman. USC finished 18-14 overall in 2025-26 and 7-13 in Big Ten play, missing the NCAA Tournament after a tough close to the season. It will look to build on that performance with a revamped roster featuring seven transfers, four freshmen and three returning players. The Trojans have a nation-leading five McDonald's All-Americans on the roster and were picked to finish eighth in the 18-team Big Ten Conference according to the preseason KenPom rankings.

The team features an experienced backcourt led by Rodney Rice, who averaged 20.3 points and 6.0 assists in six games last season before an injury ended his year. Alijah Arenas also returns after averaging more than 20 points per game during exhibition play, while Jacob Cofie provides another key returning contributor. Arenas, a former five-star recruit, averaged 14.1 points per game in limited action as a freshman last year and was recently named to the preseason watch list for the Jerry West Award, presented annually to the nation's top shooting guard. Musselman, who is beginning his third season at USC, previously led Nevada and Arkansas to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances and owns an extensive coaching resume at both the collegiate and professional levels.

SERIES HISTORY
The contest Monday will be the first in the all-time series between the two programs on the hardwood.

LAST TIME OUT
Milwaukee played just one exhibition open to fans this preseason, taking care of business against Luther Oct. 28 by a final score of 96-40. The team shot nearly 60 percent from the floor and hit nearly half of its 29 attempts from three-point range in building a 54-21 advantage at halftime. Jake Hansen led the way with 21 points (7-of-8 from downtown) and Amare Hereford added 19 of his own. The defense held the Norse to under 30 percent from the floor overall in the contest.

PRESEASON PANTHERS
Danilo Jovanovich and Chandler Jackson were selected to the Preseason All-Horizon League Teams. Jovanovich, a first-team honoree, was enjoying a breakout campaign in 2025-26 before his season was cut short by injury in early January. He started all 17 games he played and averaged a career-best 12.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, with the rebounding mark ranking second on the team. He shot an impressive 59.5 percent from the field and added a three-point shot to his repertoire, connecting on 53.8 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Jovanovich reached double figures in 12 of his 17 games, led Milwaukee in scoring seven times and topped the team in rebounding on eight occasions. He posted career highs of 21 points at Akron and 10 rebounds twice, including his first career double-double at Wright State on Jan. 1.
 
Jackson, a second-team selection, emerged as one of Milwaukee's top offensive options as the season progressed, finishing the year averaging 9.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 50.3 percent from the field. He was especially effective down the stretch, leading the Panthers in scoring from Feb. 1 through the end of the season while averaging 16.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and shooting 54.5 percent from the floor and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line. Jackson scored in double figures 13 times, including three 20-point games, and posted his first Milwaukee double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds against Cleveland State. 

AND WE'RE OFF
A couple of different looks to the season opener, which will see Milwaukee getting the new campaign underway on the road for the first time since 2021-22 (a 75-60 victory over North Dakota) as well as the third time over the past eight years. The team is now 23-13 in season openers since returning to the NCAA Division I ranks full-time in 1990-91, which includes a big 102-46 win over MSOE in head coach Bart Lundy's MKE debut four years ago and a dominant 118-62 win over Lakeland two seasons ago (in addition to a 90-86 win over Hampton last season). In all, the team has played its season opener away from home on 16 occasions since the program moved to the NCAA DI level, going 4-12 in those instances. Lundy is a perfect 4-0 in lid-lifters as the MKE head coach. 

BIG TEN BATTLES
The Panthers played Indiana and Wisconsin in the non-conference slate last season, having now gone 12-54 all-time against Big Ten opponents (they have not played any of the most recent additions in Oregon/UCLA/USC/Washington before they joined the conference). The team has its most wins and best record against Northwestern (7-6 all-time in a series that dates back to 1923) and has played Wisconsin the most (36 times in the series, amazingly dating back to a 37-18 UW victory in November of 1901). The most recent victories over a member of the conference came during the 2015-16 campaign, when Milwaukee posted road wins over Wisconsin (68-67 on 12/9/15) and Minnesota (74-65 on 12/23/15) in a span of two weeks.

PANTHERS AND THE POLLS
Milwaukee will be attempting to earn its first victory over a nationally ranked opponent since a 63-60 decision against No. 21 Butler on February 18, 2009 when it battles No. 21/22 Southern California Nov. 2. Recent ranked matchups include #11 Texas Tech (80-63 L on 11/14/25), #25 Colorado (106-79 L on 11/14/23), #24 Florida (81-45 L on 11/18/21), #2/#3 Kansas (95-68 L on 12/10/19), #18 Notre Dame (86-78 L on 11/17/15), #5/#6 Wisconsin (93-54 L on 12/10/14) and #6/#7 Villanova (73-53 L on 3/20/14), with the Panthers 0-13 against ranked opponents since that victory over Butler.

Going back, after losing their first 25 games against teams ranked in the Associated Press poll in program history, the Panthers added three wins over the course of two memorable postseasons, all coming in the NCAA Tournament. Milwaukee beat 21st-ranked Alabama and 14th-ranked Boston College in 2005 and 24th-ranked Oklahoma in 2006. The Panthers do also own a win at Butler in 2001-02 when the Bulldogs were ranked 25th in the ESPN/USA Today poll but were not ranked by the AP. Their record now all-time checks in at 4-48, with the victory over BC at #14 the biggest upset. Milwaukee has played the No. 1 team in the country just once - when it took on Illinois in the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 2005. The next-highest was Kansas at No. 2 back in 2004-05 and again in 2019-20.

JUMPING INTO THE NUMBERS
A deeper dive into the numbers when discussing the state of rosters in the new world of college basketball reveals there will be shoes to fill for the Panthers in the 2026-27 campaign. Milwaukee brings back familiar faces Danilo Jovanovich (17 games played/17 starts in 2025-26), Chandler Jackson (24GP/9GS), Isaiah Dorceus (31GP/16GS), and Simeon Murchison (17 GP/0GS), as well as the return of John Lovelace Jr., who missed all of last season due to injury. Just by percentages, the Panthers return 26.3 percent of games started (42 of 160) and 28.7 percent (1,838 of 6,400) of minutes played from a year ago. Further analysis shows the numbers are 26.1 percent (636 of 2,440) for total points scored as well as 22.1 percent (230 of 1,045) of the rebound totals. 

HERE'S JOHNNY!!
Following a devastating injury just days prior to the start of last season (Oct. 31, 2025) that caused him to miss the entire campaign, John Lovelace Jr. is set to return to the court this season for the first time since March 6, 2025 against Oakland in the Horizon League Tournament. If he makes an  appearance against USC, it will mark his first action on the court for the Panthers in a regular season game in a span of 606 days.  Lovelace Jr. has played in exhibitions this season, including four points (2-2 FG), three rebounds, and three assists in 15 minutes of action against Luther Oct. 28.

FOR THE MKE
In today's world of college basketball, change is still inevitable. This season, Milwaukee welcomes 10 new faces, broken down into five freshmen (four true freshmen and redshirt freshman Aaron Womack III, who was at Syracuse last season) as well as five transfers. The transfers include NCAA Division I newcomers to Milwaukee in Tre Norman (Marquette), Jake Hansen (Oklahoma), and Al Amadou (Saint Joseph's). The junior college transfers include Dylan Omweno (Trinidad State) and Nate Malosa (Columbia State CC). That brings the total number of student-athletes on the roster to fifteen. The background stretches far and wide and actually across the country with the list including an impressive array of nine states: Florida, Illinois (two players), Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin (six players). The six players from the state of Wisconsin are the most for the Panthers since having seven local products on the roster in 2016-17 (the team also had six in the 2024-25 campaign).

FILLING IT UP
Amare Hereford has proven he is ready to score. One of the top seniors in the state - named a finalist for the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association's prestigious "Mr. Basketball" award at Beloit Memorial High School - Hereford finished as the top scorer in the state of Wisconsin last year with his 37.5 point-per-game average. He scored 49 points in his final contest at the state tournament and graduated as the program's all-time leading scorer. His 2,493 career points finished 12th on the all-time list in Wisconsin history, with his 1,013 points as a senior the fourth-highest single season total in state history. Hereford posted a line of 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the exhibition against Luther in under 20 minutes of playing time.

WELCOME BACK HOME AW III
Aaron Womack III was also a finalist for Wisconsin's "Mr. Basketball" and finished his prep career at Dominican High School as a three-star recruit according to 247Sports. He received nearly 10 NCAA Division I offers before ultimately selecting Syracuse for year No. 1. He capped his prep career with an impressive senior season, averaging 28.8 points on 60-percent shooting, 11.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 2.8 blocks per game.

PROTECT THE ROCK
The Panthers were very good taking care of the basketball last season, averaging just 10.4 turnovers per game - a number that ranked second in the Horizon League (and not far behind leader Purdue Fort Wayne at 9.9). In fact, the team ended up setting the program record for fewest turnovers on a per-game basis.
1. 10.4 per game in 2025-26
2. 11.0 per game in 2015-16
3. 11.1 per game in 2020-21
4. 11.7 per game in 2000-01
5. 12.0 per game in 2016-17

WALKING WOUNDED
The 2025-26 campaign had the outlook and potential for a high level of success for the Panthers until injuries took a toll on the roster. Picked No. 1 in the preseason poll for the second consecutive season, Milwaukee endured one of the most injury-ravaged campaigns in all of college basketball.
 
With three would-be starters sidelined for the year by midseason, the final overall record of 12-20 included a respectable 8-6 mark at home and produced the second-most victories of any NCAA program that had players miss at least 100 games due to injury. In fact, research across the NCAA DI level indicated that the Panthers were among the handful of teams most heavily hit by injuries last season.

1. Boston University: 183 games missed due to injuries by 9 players 
2. Binghamton: 175 games/12 players 
3. LaSalle: 132 games/10 players
4. Delaware: 127 games/9 players
5. Bucknell: 120 games/7 players
6. Milwaukee: 103 games/9 players

LINEUP LOWDOWN
The starting five for the Panthers saw quite the variety last season as a result of the injury situation, as the team wrapped up the campaign using 19 different lineups. In fact, 12 different players started at least one game last season. Looking across the country, just two other teams used more combinations for starting lineups as Charleston Southern was tops at 21.  La Salle was second with 20 variations, followed by Milwaukee (19).

JOINING THE 500 CLUB
Bart Lundy recorded a milestone moment in his coaching career against IU Indianapolis Jan. 11of last season, reaching the 500-victory plateau with the 95-83 decision over the Jaguars. Lundy entered year No. 24 sitting at 492 wins after averaging over 21 wins per season since he started roaming the sidelines for Queens in the 1998-99 campaign.

Lundy joined an exclusive club: active NCAA coaches with 500 wins. There were 17 active members when he achieved the feat if counting NCAA Division I victories alone, and Lundy was the 22nd when counting all NCAA levels. He did so in efficient manner, claiming win No. 500 in his 738th game, an impressive .678 winning percentage. Based on a check of records, there is a list of no more than 40 coaches all-time that have reached the 500 milestone at a higher winning clip.

Lundy Notable Milestone Victories
1: Eckerd College, 81-59 on 11/15/1998
100: Barton College, 90-83 on 1/28/2003
200: Radford, 77-54 on 2/27/2008
300: Livingstone College, 104-60 on 11/17/2017
400: Young Harris College, 133-80 on 11/21/2021
500: IU Indianapolis, 95-83 on 1/11/2026

LEAGUE LIFTOFF
Since joining the MCC/Horizon League, Milwaukee is now 17-15 in league openers following the 74-72 result against Robert Morris last year, which improved Bart Lundy to 3-1 in his tenure. The victory in the league opener in year No. 1 for Lundy turned the tide in Horizon League lid-lifters, as the team had gone 1-7 dating back to an 82-76 victory over YSU in 2013-14.  

BEN ON THE BEST LIST
Silver Waves Media announced its eighth annual compilation of the "100 Most Impactful Mid-Major Assistant Coaches" in mid-October, with Milwaukee men's basketball Associate Head Coach Ben Walker featured on the list. Recognition on this prestigious list is viewed as an industry standard for excellence. In the last four years, this list has included over 40 coaches who have gone on to become head coaches.

Walker was added to head coach Bart Lundy's staff as an assistant coach for the program team in August of 2022. He was elevated to Associate Head Coach in July of 2024 and was an instrumental part of 20-win campaigns in each of his first three seasons, the best stretch for the program since four consecutive from 2002-2006.

OFFSEASON MOVES
Three members of the Milwaukee coaching staff earned promotions during the offseason. Julian Swartz was elevated to assistant coach for the Panthers in June. Swartz, who joined the Milwaukee coaching staff prior to the 2025-26 season as special assistant to the head coach, will continue his work overseeing the Panthers' post players, while also playing key roles in recruiting, scouting and preparation of special teams.

In August, Will Glisky was promoted to Director of Scouting and Analytics and Cooper Janicki to Director of Basketball Operations ahead of the 2026-27 season. Both Glisky and Janicki have played integral roles behind the scenes since their arrivals and will take on expanded responsibilities as the Panthers continue preparations for the upcoming campaign. 


CHECK THAT LOGO OUT
Milwaukee Athletics and Tabak Law, LLC, in partnership with Learfield's Panthers Sports Properties, Announced a multi-year jersey patch agreement naming the local law firm the official jersey patch partner for Panther men's and women's basketball and men's and women's soccer in early October of this year. The agreement marks the first jersey patch partnership in Milwaukee Athletics history. The Tabak Law logo made its debut on MKE men's and women's soccer uniforms Oct. 10, before appearing on Panther men's and women's basketball uniforms during the 2026-27 season.

TURN THE RADIO UP
This marks the fifth full hoops season that 101.7 FM The Truth will serve as the radio home of the Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball radio broadcasts. Fans can listen to veteran broadcaster Scott Warras, now in his 11th season, call all the play-by-play action on air at 101.7 FM and via live online streaming services. In addition to the traditional radio broadcasts available on 101.7 The Truth and its mobile app, all Panther men's basketball broadcasts will be streamed live on the Black & Gold Network at mkepanthers.com, the Wisconsin on Demand, and Varsity Network mobile apps (available in the App Store & Google Play). This season, fans of Milwaukee basketball will have more ways than ever to listen to the action.

IT'S OUR HOUSE
Although the building is not new and has been the site to many historic basketball moments in Milwaukee history, this is Milwaukee's 13th season in an arena that bears its name - UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. In July of 2014, the University and Wisconsin Center District entered into a partnership that included naming rights to the facility formerly known as The MECCA and U.S. Cellular Arena.

UP NEXT
The Panthers remain on the road and travel to take on Santa Clara Wednesday, a program who is receiving votes in the preseason national poll. Game time is set for 9 p.m. CT.