The Milwaukee men’s basketball team had a huge lead and never looked back, defeating the IUPUI Jaguars 89-54 at the UWM Panther Arena Saturday afternoon.
“Good win,” Head Coach Pat Baldwin said. “From start to finish, the guys played extremely hard and shot the ball pretty well and we did what we needed to do. Defensively, we got back to the standards that we have set for our team and hopefully we can continue with this type of production on the offensive end.”
The Panthers (6-12, 4-5 Horizon League) finished the day shooting 62.3 percent (33-of-53) from the floor against the Jaguars (1-14, 0-6 Horizon League), a shooting percentage which finished as the seventh-best for a single-game in program history, while the 89 points also marked a season high for the team.
DeAndre Gholston led the offense with 21 points (7-11 FG, 5-9 3Pt, 2-2 FT), with most of the damage coming from downtown after a 5-of-9 effort from three-point range.
Tafari Sims heated up for 19 points (7-9 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 4-4 FT) off the bench, finishing 7-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
“Give our guys credit,” Baldwin said. “They took advantage and found holes and 13-for-25 (from three-point range) doesn’t hurt either. When you get up, you want to expand and build on your lead and not let up and our guys were consistent throughout the game.”
The defense held the Jags to 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the floor on the day while not allowing a single member of the visiting team to record double-figures in the contest – Bakari LaStrap and Azariah Seay each led IUPUI with nine points.
“When you are doing a great job defensively, it gives yourself a chance to be in games and certainly to win,” Baldwin said. “Moving on, we have a tough week next week and are looking forward to that challenge.”
The defense was great in the first half, holding IUPUI under 30 percent (.292) and held a 38-25 lead at intermission. The team struck quickly out of the second-half locker room, with a trio of 3’s (two from Gholston; one from Newby) quickly extending the advantage.
The team hit 52 percent (13-of-25) on its three’s and won the rebounding battle, 35-24. Milwaukee outscored the opposition 28-16 in the paint, 15-4 off turnovers, 16-6 in second-chance opportunities and 10-1 on the fast break.
It was a much needed win for the Panthers, who have struggled to meet high expectations in the first half of the season. Milwaukee was projected to finish in the top four of the Horizon League, but currently sit eighth in the conference. However, they’ve been without five-star recruit Patrick Baldwin Jr. for 10 of their 18 games due to multiple injuries and COVID-19. Getting him back to 100 percent to lead the team late in the season may be all the Panthers need to rise up the Horizon standings.
Milwaukee returns to the court Thursday for a matchup with first-place Oakland, who is 7-0 in conference play.