Panthers Wrap Up Road Swing At Wright StateFeb. 4, 2007 Game #26 • Mon., Feb. 5 • Wright State (16-8, 9-2) • 6 p.m. Of Note: Panthers just 1-11 on the road; Raiders haven't lost since falling in Milwaukee on Jan. 21.
UWM: 8-17, 5-7; lost at #13 Butler Saturday
WSU: 16-8, 9-2; won at Detroit Saturday
Arena: Nutter Center (11,500)
Tickets: Available at the Nutter Center box office, either in
advance or on the day of the game
TV: WMLW in Milwaukee and nationally on ESPN
Full Court - Daron Sutton (pxp) and Jason Clark
(color) on the call
Radio: WOKY (920AM) - Bill Johnson play-by-play
Online: Live stats, audio and video at uwmpanthers.com
• Game #26 The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team wraps up its two-game weekend road swing with a Monday contest at Wright State. The game tips off at 6 p.m. CST. • History Lesson UWM holds a 19-14 all-time lead over Wright State thanks to having won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two schools. In fact, when the Raiders claimed a 59-54 win in Dayton last year, it snapped a 10-game winning streak in the series for the Panthers. • Last Time With The Raiders Paige Paulsen tallied 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers to an impressive 73-69 win over first-place Wright State Jan. 21 at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Panthers trailed by as many as seven points in the first half as the Raiders shot 68.2 percent from the field. But, Milwaukee got back within a point at halftime and then led by as many as nine points in the second half before hanging on down the stretch. Avery Smith (15) and Ricky Franklin (13) also reached double digits for the Panthers, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season. • Logjam In The League Not much has been decided in the 2007 Horizon League title chase. In fact, Wright State comes into Monday's game with UWM just one game behind the Bulldogs for the top spot in the league. BU did beat WSU in the first meeting, with a rematch set for Saturday in Dayton. Meanwhile, six other teams, including Milwaukee, are within two games of third place. Of course, a spot in the top two of the standings earns those teams a berth in the semifinals, while a third-place finish does get a team out of having to play a first-round game in the league tournament. • Far Away In February The Panthers are staring at a very road-heavy schedule as the calendar turns to the month of February. In fact, UWM is playing five road games and just one home contest in the month. Milwaukee will be looking to improve its play on the road over the final month of the season, with the Panthers 1-11 on the road this season. But, trouble on the road is nothing new for teams in the Horizon League. In league play, the road team is just 20-32 this season. Meanwhile, Horizon League teams overall have compiled a 30-73 road record. • Updates On The Injury Front Charlie Swiggett tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee at practice Jan. 8 and had surgery to repair the knee last Thursday in Milwaukee. Swiggett had started 12 of the first 17 games of this season, averaging 5.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. A true freshman from Chester, Pa., and Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., Swiggett was the first true freshman to start a game for the Panthers since the 2001-02 season. Meanwhile, walk-on Michael Bendall also had knee surgery recently and will be sidelined the remainder of the season. Bendall had played in two games this season. • Busting It With Drake UWM learned earlier this week it will play Drake Feb. 17 in the fifth-annual O'Reilly BracketBusters event. The Panthers and Bulldogs will face off at 7 p.m. at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, with Drake returning the game in Milwaukee next season. Drake is 12-12 overall and owns wins this season over Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa. The two head coaches in the game share ties, as both Dr. Tom Davis and Rob Jeter are graduates of UW-Platteville. • The Challenges Continue With a relatively difficult BracketBusters assignment, it now seems safe to say the Panthers have faced one of the most-difficult non-league slates in school history. Along with Wisconsin rising to second in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls, Washington State is up to 17th in the coaches' poll and 18th in the AP poll. Plus, Northern Iowa continues to receive votes in the polls while Michigan, Missouri State and Sam Houston State seem destined for postseason play in March. In all, UWM's 10 non-league losses have come to teams that have combined for a 154-76 record through Feb. 3, while seven of UWM's losses have come to teams ranked in the top 100 of the RPI. The Panthers had the 55th most-difficult non-league schedule in the country. • The Story Inside The Story UWM knew the 2006-07 season wouldn't be easy, with a difficult schedule and a young, inexperienced squad. Perhaps the biggest hurdle to overcome is pulling out close games once you are in a position to win. The Panthers are starting to find more and more ways to close out close games, standing 4-2 in games decided by five points or less. UWM is also learning how to make plays down the stretch, forcing overtime with a late rally in Detroit a week ago Thursday. The Panthers now have plenty of experience with to lean on when it comes to tough losses. In fact, UWM has been tied or ahead in the second half of six of its losses. Some of the notable tough losses from earlier this season. 11/15 @ Michigan - UWM leads by five in second half and was still within four points with one minute left 11/26 vs. Tenn. Tech - UWM was within two at the 2:48 mark of the second half before making just two of its final nine shots down the stretch 11/29 @ Central Michigan - UWM goes up 57-55 on an Avery Smith three with 4:30 left before CMU finishes on 21-4 run 12/2 @ Oakland - UWM forges a 61-all tie with 3:17 left before the Grizzlies hit late free throws to claim the win 12/10 vs. Youngstown State - UWM is up one with 3:02 left and then missed a free throw to tie the game with two seconds left 12/30 vs. #15 Butler - UWM leads by eight in the first half and by a point with 4:08 to go before falling 1/6 @ Loyola - UWM leads by six in the first half and is still within a point with under nine minutes to play • Youth Is Officially Served Everyone knows the Panthers are fielding a young and inexperienced team in 2006-07 after losing seven seniors and two other scholarship players following last season. To no one's surprise, the nine Division I starts UWM had on its roster at the start of the year were the fewest of any team in the nation. Plus, all nine of those starts came from Paige Paulsen while he was at Northern Illinois two years ago. Milwaukee also ranks 16th among schools with the fewest career Division I games played on their roster. And, of the 251 games played entering this season among UWM players, 62 came at other Division I schools while another 41 came from walk-ons. Fewest D1 Starts (entering season) 1. Milwaukee - 9 2. Davidson - 30 3. San Jose State - 37 4. Stetson - 47 5. Southern Mississippi - 49• A Lot Of Fresh Faces When you lose seven seniors and two additional players in one graduation class, you would figure to have a lot of new players on the roster. Well, UWM's expansive 2006-07 roster includes 20 players, with 16 of those players in either their first or second year in Milwaukee. Ten players from that group are in their first year at UWM. Officially, the Panthers returned five letterwinners this year, and only 16 Division I teams around the country returned fewer than that. But, it should be noted two (Nick Hansen and Michael Bendall) of the five letterwinners were walk-ons, with Hansen earning a scholarship this season. • The New Guys In Action It is one thing to have a lot of newcomers on a roster, but it is another thing to have them playing prominent roles just months into their careers. Of the nine players that saw action while the outcome was still in doubt Saturday against Butler, six of them are playing for the first time in Milwaukee and four of them are playing in their first competitive basketball season in two years. Ricky Franklin sat out of both practice and games last season while Paige Paulsen was only eligible for practice after transferring. Plus, Sam Mauldin sat out last season at Birmingham Southern with a knee injury and Kaylan Anderson redshirted during his first year in Milwaukee last season. This season, 776 of UWM's 1615 points scored (48 percent) and 457 of 876 rebounds (52 percent) have come from newcomers. • Number Crunching While UWM is looking to a number of new faces to contribute, the group of players with Division I college experience is also being asked to contribute far more than ever before. For example, Avery Smith, Kevin Massiah and Allan Hanson have all easily surpassed the total number of points they scored in their college careers entering this season. A breakdown of how many points UWM's key offensive contributors had entering the season and how many points they have scored this year: Player Entering `06-'07 In `06-'07 Avery Smith 147 394 Paige Paulsen 218 281 Kevin Massiah 84 205 Allan Hanson 107 198• A Career Night ... Every Night One other way to look at just how much inexperience the Panthers are putting on the floor this season is to compare the stats of nearly any game this season to the career highs for UWM's most experienced players entering this year. For example, Allan Hanson entered this season with a career high of 10 points (vs. Detroit last season) and 17 minutes played (at Wyoming last season). This year, Hanson has equaled or surpassed his career high in points 11 times while playing more than 17 minutes in every game this season, starting 24 of the 25 contests. Meanwhile, Avery Smith has equaled or surpassed his career high in points (10) 18 times this season, while also equaling or passing his career high in minutes (26) 18 times. Finally, Kevin Massiah has gone past his career high in points (7) 18 times while surpassing his career high in minutes (20) in 17 of the last 22 games. • Last Time Out The Panthers could never solve the defense of 13th-ranked Butler, falling down by 16 points at halftime before dropping a 66-47 decision to the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse. UWM shot just 35 percent from the field and got to the foul line just nine times. Ricky Franklin led the Panthers with 17 points while Paige Paulsen pitched-in with 10. The Panthers did shave a 24-point Butler lead back to 16 midway through the second half but could never get any closer. • Pouring In The Points Saturday at Butler, Avery Smith found himself slowed on offense for one of the first times this season. Smith scored just five points, equaling the season low he originally set against Washington State in the second game of the regular season. Smith also saw a streak of six-straight double-figure efforts snapped, while it was just the second time in the last 13 games where the junior failed to get to double figures. Smith is still UWM's top scorer, passing the 30-point mark in a game for the second time this season when he scored 32 points at Detroit Jan. 25. Smith also had 36 points in a loss at Oakland Dec. 2. Smith is the fourth Panther in recent years to record two 30-point games in a single season. Joah Tucker had two during the 2004-05 season, while Dylan Page had two in 2003-04 and Clay Tucker had two in the 2002-03 campaign. The school record for 30-point games in a single season is eight, set by Shannon Smith during the 1994-95 season. Avery Smith actually did much of his early damage off the bench, including his 36-point performance at Oakland. That effort tied for the 13th-best single-game performance in UWM's Division I history while it was also the single-best scoring performance off the bench in the school's Division I history. Smith leads the Panthers in scoring at 15.8 ppg. He has also led the Panthers in scoring 13 times this season, while reaching double figures 19 times. He also has seven games with 20 or more points. • Ricky Steps It Up With UWM looking for someone to make offensive contributions Saturday at Butler, sophomore Ricky Franklin stepped up. Franklin scored 17 points, just one point off his collegiate high. The Milwaukee native has had an up and down first season as a Panther after sitting out of both practice and games last season due to NCAA Initial Eligibility Standards. Franklin reached double figures just twice in the first 15 games of the season before rolling through a stretch of six games where he reached double digits five times. Then Saturday's effort at Butler was the first time in four games where Franklin returned to double figures. On the season, Franklin is UWM's fifth-leading scorer, averaging 6.7 points per game. • Do As Roman Does Off The Bench Freshman Roman Gentry is beginning to emerge as one of the first guys off the bench for head coach Rob Jeter. In fact, Gentry has averaged more than 20 minutes per game in the last three outings while averaging 3.5 points per game in the last six contests. Gentry, an all-state performer from Iowa, has played in 20 games but had played double-figure minutes just three times prior to this latest three-game stretch. • All About Al As UWM's most veteran player, Allan Hanson was leaned on heavily in the early season. Now that some of his teammates are finding their stride, Hanson seems to be getting even more opportunities to contribute offensively. Hanson scored a collegiate-best 19 points at Detroit Jan. 25 after equaling his old career best of 15 twice in a four-game span. He then added 13 points in the win over Cleveland State Monday and has now reached double figures in points 11 times while also doing a nice job of directing UWM's offense from either the point or the wing. He leads the team with 72 assists and has committed just 36 turnovers. • Getting Better On Offense UWM's overall season shooting numbers will likely never look great after the Panthers struggled on offense during the first month-plus of the season. But, with Milwaukee continuing to show improvement on the offensive end of the floor, it is starting to compile some much better looking stats. UWM has dipped below 40 percent from field in each of its last three games, yet the Panthers have still shot better than 40 percent in eight of their last 13 games after doing it just once in the first 12 games of the season. The Panthers are also getting a wider range of contributions, landing four players in double figures three times over the last 11 games while having three players reach double digits five other times. • Stolen Moments UWM's defensive effort Jan. 27 in the loss to UW-Green Bay included a season-high 15 steals, the third time this season the Panthers have reached double figures in steals. The 15 steals were also the most since UWM recorded 17 at Hawai'i in 2005. Paige Paulsen and Avery Smith led the way with four steals apiece. On the season, the Panthers average six steals per game. • Can't Beat That Bench With the move of both Avery Smith and Ricky Franklin into the starting lineup for the last five games, it stands to reason UWM would see its point production from the bench drop off. But, including Marcus Skinner's 10-point performance at Cleveland State Jan. 11, the Panthers still have 17 double-digit efforts off the bench this season. Plus, the Panthers continue to win the overall battle of the bench, outscoring its opponent from the bench in 19 of 25 games this season. UWM has had two players reach double figures off the bench in the same game three times and had three players reach double digits as subs against Central Michigan Nov. 29. Smith leads the way with nine double-figure games off the bench, followed by Kevin Massiah (3) and Ricky Franklin (2). Allan Hanson and Ryan Thornton have also each reached double figures off the bench once. • Cleaning Out The Notebook Paige Paulsen was named the Horizon League Player of the Week Jan. 22 after leading UWM to win over both UIC and Wright State. Paulsen averaged 17.5 points and nine rebounds per game ... Jan. 25 in Detroit, the Panthers knocked down a season-best 14 three-point shots, equaling the most in a game for a UWM team since 2002. And, against UIC Jan. 17, the Panthers made a school record 12 three-point shots in the first half ... Milwaukee's modest two-game winning streak that was snapped Jan. 25 included wins over a pair of first-place teams. UIC entered its game with UWM atop the league standings, while Wright State came to The Cell in the same position four days later ... the Panthers have collected 10 or more offensive rebounds in 20 of 25 games this season, including 23 offensive boards vs. Detroit Jan. 4 and then 19 offensive boards in its loss last Saturday against Green Bay ... UWM has used six different starting lineups this season and eight different players have earned starts for the Panthers. Seventy-one of the 125 starts for UWM this season have come from players who did not play for the Panthers a year ago ... junior Avery Smith is topping UWM's scoring list while averaging 15.8 points per game. He is vying to become the first non-senior to lead UWM in scoring since the 2001-02 campaign, when Clay Tucker topped the scoring charts at 17.6 points per game ... UWM continues to have a wide array of players contribute offensively, with eight different players reaching double figures in a game this year. And, Sam Mauldin and Roman Gentry each have season-highs of nine points, meaning 10 different players have scored at least nine points in a game ... Milwaukee native Joe Allen, a veteran of the U.S. Army and a transfer from St. Mary's (Tex.), has been added to the UWM roster. He is practicing with the team and will be eligible for game action at the conclusion of the first semester next year. • The Future In The Spotlight UWM signed four players to National Letters of Intent in November, and the group continues to get rave reviews. The recruiting class has been rated as the top class in the Horizon League while Chicago Simeon's Tim Flowers is ranked as the 72nd-best player in the country by Hoop Scoop Online. Flowers and teammate Kevin Johnson each tallied double-doubles when Simeon beat top-ranked Oak Hill Academy on ESPN Jan. 18, while the two are part of a Simeon team looking to win a second-straight Illinois state title. Meanwhile, Notre Dame Prep's Deonte Roberts scored the game-winning basket for his team in a nationally-televised win over The Patterson School at the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., three weeks ago. Roberts is a 6-foot-2 guard who was a two-time all-stater at Saint Bernard's High School in St. Paul, Minn., before heading to Notre Dame Prep. UWM's other fall signee is Anthony Hill of Bradley Tech. • Up Next UWM takes an extended break before returning to action Feb. 14 against Loyola. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Arena. This is the final regular season home game of the year for the Panthers, who will honor seniors Kevin Massiah and Nick Hansen before the game.
|
