UWM men’s basketball welcomed the Wright State Raiders back at home for their homecoming game after two games on the road. The Panthers won their first away game against IU Indy 84-80 but fell short against Cleveland State last week 60-77. Entering this week’s match-up, Milwaukee is 16-9 (9-5 in the Horizon League) while Wright State is 13-13 (7-8 Horizon League.)
The Panthers are currently 3-1 at home over the past four games and Milwaukee is first in the nation in fastbreak points, as no other team at the NCAA D1 level has been able to score more fastbreak points than UWM’s 17.96 a game.
Jamichael Stillwell enters today’s game against Wright State with 260 rebounds, the third-most single-season rebounds in UWM history.
Off-rip, AJ McKee was able to secure the first points on the board with a three-point shot to begin the game. Although Milwaukee was able to put up the first few points, the team was struggling in the first half defensively being down 9-16.
“People don’t see what AJ does for us”, said Head Coach Bart Lundy. “AJ’s will to win and to push our guys forward was unbelievable when it was our hardest tonight”.
Foul calls were an issue for The Panthers; two fouls were called on Faizon Fields. The score quickly advanced to 20-9 with the Raiders up with 11:50 left in the first half, with UWM struggling to put points on the board.
Free throws always seem to work out in the Panthers’ favor with Erik Pratt being able to go two for two to help the team stay alive bringing the game to 13-23 with the Raiders still up.
Multiple foul calls against the Raiders ended in favor of Milwaukee and a layup made by Aaron Franklin helped bring the score to 30-33 with three minutes left in the first half followed by a major block from Franklin with a layup made by Themus Fulks to bring the score to a close 32-33 with a few minutes in the first half.
A major three-point shot by Jamichael Stillwell assisted by Themus Fulks put the Panthers up 39-38 going into the half.
Looking into the first half, both the Raiders as well as the Panthers ended with a field goal percentage of 51.9% and Milwaukee led in rebounds 15-12. UWM also had a 13-4 advantage in turnovers and Milwaukee over Wright State 18-20 in the paint.
Entering the second half the Raiders seemed to have gotten into a groove shooting multiple back-to-back three-point shots while Milwaukee struggled to find theirs a bit. Themus Fulks had a good jumper as a response to back-to-back scoring from Wright State. A big three-point shot made by John Lovelace Jr. to bring the score 50-55 with 13 minutes left in the second half. Danilo Jovanovich enters the game with crucial layups to keep Milwaukee alive.
The entire second half was close, with back-to-back intense scoring from both teams. A vital steal followed by a dunk made by Kentrell Pullian brought the score 68-71 with 1:50 left in the second half. The Raiders Alex Huibregtse was able to secure a big three-point shot to end the game with a score of 73-73, sending the game to overtime.
Milwaukee was able to find their momentum and continued with the lead the rest of the game to secure another win at home, 88-80 in overtime.
Themus Fulks was the star of the show, leading the team with 21 points and 12 assists.
“I have to continue to try and make the right play throughout the game,” said Themus Fulks. “There are going to be times where I should have passed, there’s going to be times where I should have scored it, it’s just the flow of the game… it comes down to making the right play.”
Jamichael Stillwell also ended in double digits with 15 points and 8 rebounds, AJ Kee with 12 points, and major help from Aaron Franklin with 11 points and 4 rebounds. Kentrell Pullian finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds.
The Panthers will face Northern Kentucky with another home advantage at the Panther Arena on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.