Milwaukee came away with an 85-83 win in a dramatic Friday afternoon showdown with Chattanooga at the Panther Arena. The triumph marked the first home win against a Division I opponent this season.
The victory required an extra five-minute overtime period after the two teams were knotted at 72. An Erik Pratt three-pointer nearly gave UWM the lead near the end of regulation but was nixed by a Bart Lundy timeout, called moments before the shot.
“I didn’t think it was going to go in there… but it did,” joked Pratt after the overtime victory.
The Panthers eventually sealed the hard-fought win after Chattanooga failed to rebound their missed free throw in the final seconds.
Wire-to-Wire Win
A re-energized Panther squad set the tone early with a trio of first-half three-pointers from Kentrell Pullian and Erik Pratt, which gave the Panthers an early lead. Anchored by strong defense, UWM held the Mocs to 0-14 from three-point range. Milwaukee led 33-23 at the half, just the second time in Division I play this year that Milwaukee led at intermission.
The Panthers endured Chattanooga’s three-point barrage in a back-and-forth second half, pushing the game to overtime after surrendering the lead with 10 seconds remaining. Milwaukee outscored the Mocs 13-11 in overtime.
UWM improves to 5-7 on the year with the victory, while UTC drops to 8-4. Friday marked just the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools.
Big Performances from Multiple Panthers
Erik Pratt and Kentrell Pullian stepped up in Friday’s contest, the first since guard Markeith Browning’s dismissal from the program. Pratt led all players with 29 points, while Pullian added 26. Both were career-high marks.
“It was really a team effort,” said Pratt after his standout performance. “We’ve been playing a lot better basketball recently, so I’m thankful that today I got to show that.”
Also contributing in Friday’s win were Darius Duffy and Elijah Jamison. Duffy scored just three points but recorded a team-high 10 rebounds and four blocks, while Jamison doled out eight assists. The Panthers had a remarkable +19 point differential with each on the court.
“He just runs the floor hard… he doesn’t demand anything from our team, just does his job,” said Lundy about Duffy after the game. “His presence defensively on the floor makes us a different team.”
Lundy also spoke glowingly about Jamison, who played a team-high 39 minutes.
“He made some really, really good reads [on ball screens],” said Lundy. “And he guarded two of the hardest guys to guard in the country.”
Trey Bonham led Chattanooga with 25 points and eight rebounds in just his third game with the Mocs. Sophomores Honor Huff and Sam Alexis each chipped in 19 points.
The Panthers’ defense held UTC Center Jan Zidek scoreless after he set a career high with 27 points earlier this week against Gardner-Webb.
Injury Updates
Markeith Browning’s dismissal wound up not being the only loss during the Panthers’ eight-day hiatus. Lundy announced after the game that star guard BJ Freeman would be shut down for 10-14 days after experiencing a setback during his return from a back injury. The preseason first-team all-Horizon League member averaged 19.5 points per game prior to his injury. Friday marked his fifth consecutive missed game.
The second-year head coach also announced that guard Zach Howell’s shoulder injury will require surgery, causing him to miss the remainder of the season. The 6-5 sophomore averaged 4.2 points per game prior to the injury. He will maintain his sophomore eligibility next year due to medical redshirt policies.
Important Win Before Conference Slate Fully Begins
The Panthers’ non-conference matchup marked the final one of its kind for the season, as UWM fully kicks off their Horizon League slate next week. The hard-earned victory was an important one to instill confidence in a team that has lacked it in the early-goings.
“I give credit to our guys,” said an enthusiastic Lundy after the overtime win. “We had the best week that we’ve had since this group got here in the summer. There aren’t any secrets in this – you play together, you play hard, you sacrifice and good things happen. The group that was on the floor tonight, they did that.”
The non-conference win was the Panthers’ most complete win of the year, bringing early energy and working hard on both ends of the floor. Correcting little things that were neglected earlier in the season – things like a lack of effort boxing out rebounders and an undisciplined offensive approach – proved to be the difference in the two-point margin of victory.
The team hopes to carry this momentum into the conference season.
“I definitely feel like we’re going up and going up, but it’s good just to stay level-headed,” said Pratt. “Don’t get too high. Don’t be too low.”
Lundy added that today’s game was representative of the winning culture they hope to reclaim.
“If we’re going to have Milwaukee basketball, that’s what it’s going to be about,” said Lundy. “It’s not always going to pretty, it’s not always going to be right but they’re going to play together. We play hard win or lose.
“I feel good in my basketball soul about our effort, our energy and how we represented the university.”
The Panthers return to action next Friday, December 29, at 7 p.m. when they host Horizon League foe Robert Morris at the Panther Arena.