The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers faced the North Dakota Fighting Hawks Tuesday night as the Panthers secured a relatively easy win. The Panthers won with a score of 79-70 over the Fighting Hawks with very few lead changes as the Panthers held the lead for 37 minutes.
The Panthers had many key players in their win over the Fighting Hawks on Tuesday, the biggest being guard Darius Roy. Roy scored 21 points on 7-16 shooting, three rebounds, four assists and one block, adding four three-pointers to the mix. Te’Jon Lucas also played a pivotal role in the game with 15 points on 5-12 shooting with two rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Overall the Panthers shot well with a total field goal percentage of 43.8 and had five players in double digit scoring. Also scoring in double digits along with Roy and Lucas was guard DeAndre Abram who had 10 points, Josh Thomas with 11 and Amir Allen with 11 points who Coach Baldwin spoke highly of after the game.
“To see someone like Amir, who hadn’t scored in double digits yet, get 11 points and nine rebounds, that’s huge,” Baldwin said.
Coach Baldwin also had words of encouragement for his guards after the game Tuesday night.
“Our guard play has been exceptional, Josh, Te’Jon, and Darius those guys can find their spots out there on the floor and certainly helps having that depth,” Baldwin said.
That depth referring to Thomas, who came off the bench and scored 11 points, the most off the bench for either team Tuesday night.
It wasn’t all great for the Panthers though as turnovers continue to be a problem as they committed 13 as well as free throws. They shot 57.7% from the line missing 11 total free throws with 10 of those in the second half down the stretch. That lack of free throw shooting will need to be cleaned up if the Panthers want to win the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase starting Nov. 21. Their next opponent is against Rice on Nov. 21 at 1 p.m.