Panthers Back At U.S. Cellular Arena As Tourney Returns To MilwaukeeMarch 2, 2006 Game #28 - Milwaukee (19-8) vs. Loyola or Detroit Sat. March 4 • 6 p.m. CST U.S. Cellular Arena (10,783) • Milwaukee, Wis. TV: ESPNU (Craig Coshun and Charles Davis) Radio: WOKY, 920 AM (Bill Johnson, play-by-play) Internet: Live audio and stats available at www.uwmpanthers.com Tickets: Available at all Milwaukee-area Ticket Master outlets, by phone at 414-276-4545 or online at ticketmaster.com. Also available at the U.S. Cellular Arena box office prior to the game. Ticket prices range from $15-$25, while UWM student tickets are $10 Tournament Info: Milwaukee is 7-8 all-time in the league tourney Last Tourney Game: 3/8/05 - Milwaukee 59, Detroit 58 Printable Tournament Media Guide Notes Printable Tournament Media Guide Player Pages Printable Tournament Media Guide Game Recaps The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team returns to action in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship. The game is Saturday at 6 p.m. CST at the U.S. Cellular Arena against either Loyola or Detroit. • Tourney Time The Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship has returned to the U.S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee for the fourth-straight season. The Panthers earned hosting rights for the tournament by claiming the regular season league title, and the tourney format gives top-seeded Milwaukee and second-seeded Butler byes into Saturday's semifinals. UWM has gotten used to playing host to the league tournament. Milwaukee hosted the bulk of the league tourney for the first time following the 2002-03 season, then hosted the championship game in 2003-04 and again hosted the bulk of the tourney last season. Milwaukee has also set attendance records in all three tournaments, including a sellout of 10,783 in the title game last season. • A Little Tourney History UWM is playing in its 11th Horizon League/MCC Tournament and will be appearing in the semifinals for the fourth-straight year. The Panthers are 7-8 all-time in the league tourney, though five of those wins have come in the last three seasons. At the U.S. Cellular Arena, Milwaukee has posted a 4-1 tournament record, with its only home tourney loss coming to UIC in the 2004 title game. Of its potential semifinal opponents, UWM is 1-0 in league tourney games against Loyola and 2-1 in tourney contests against Detroit. For a complete history, see pages 10-11 of the tournament media guide. • Celebrating A Title Thanks to a win last Tuesday over Detroit and Butler's loss to the Titans Saturday, UWM won its third-straight outright Horizon League title. It's another step in the incredible progress of the program. UWM had never won a regular season Division I league title until the 2003-04 campaign. In fact, prior to winning the 2003 Horizon League Tournament title, UWM hadn't won a basketball title of any kind since winning the 1960 Wisconsin State Collegiate Conference title. This year's league regular season title gives UWM 13 in the 110-year history of men's basketball at the school. Seven of those crowns came in the WSCC, which was also known as the Wisconsin Normal Conference and the Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference, while the other five (three regular season and two tournament) have come in the Horizon League. The outright crown is the sixth outright league title in school history. • Knowing You Will Play On Along with the top seed and homecourt advantage for the league tournament, UWM's regular season league title has guaranteed the Panthers a post-season bid for the fourth-straight year. That is because, if the Panthers do not claim the Horizon League's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament by winning the league tourney title, they are assured of no worse than a berth in the NIT. The NCAA, which purchased the NIT this past summer, recently announced that all regular season league champions left out of the NCAA Tournament would automatically be given a berth in the NIT. Regardless of the tournament, UWM's fourth-straight post-season appearance is unprecedented in school history. • A Regular Season Thumbnail Expectations were high heading into the 2005-06 season for the Panthers, and they delivered. After surviving a difficult non-league schedule highlighted by a western road swing sweep of Wyoming and Montana, the Panthers dashed to the front of the pack by winning nine of their first 10 league games. Close losses at Wright State and Butler made for a tight title chase in the final three weeks, but the Panthers overcame an injury to Adrian Tigert and an unexpected loss to UIC to beat Detroit in the final game of the regular season and win the league title. • Looking At The Non-League The BracketBusters game with Missouri State two weeks ago made for another tough addition to what became a very difficult non-league slate for the Panthers this season. A quick check of the unofficial RPI rankings, updated after the Horizon League regular season was completed, shows Milwaukee had the 19th most-difficult non-league schedule in the nation. Plus, non-league opponents Memphis (6th), Wisconsin (15th) and Missouri State (20th) all rank in the top 20 of the RPI. UWM has also claimed non-league victories over some tough competition, as the Panthers have beaten Saint Louis (78th), Hawai'i (81st) and Montana (84th). • A Little Rest People can spin it as either a positive or negative, but the Panthers will be working on 10 days rest when they take to the court Saturday night in the league semifinals. Milwaukee wrapped up its regular season Feb. 21 with a win over Detroit but, thanks to its bye on the final Saturday of the regular season and its bye into the semifinals of the league tournament, don't play until March 4. UWM has approached the time away from games with a mix of practice and rest. The Panthers were off from practice Wednesday, Friday and Sunday of last week before stepping into a regular week of practice beginning Monday. But, the time off late in the season is actually nothing new for the Panthers. In each of the last two seasons, UWM has had a bye during the final week of the regular season and has played just one game in the 13 days leading up to the league tournament. • Getting Used To Being Home Along with receiving some extended time off, the Panthers have been able to keep their suitcases unpacked for nearly a month. In fact, UWM's last road game came Feb. 11 in Cleveland and the Panthers flew back to Milwaukee immediately after the game. But, getting to spend that much time at home means the Panthers were on the road plenty earlier in the year. Milwaukee played six of its eight league road games within a three-week period and endured a stretch where it played six of seven games on the road. UWM's success away from home is one big reason why the Panthers have been able to stay atop the Horizon League standings for such an extended period of time. Milwaukee was 5-3 on the road in league play this season and 8-6 on the road overall. The Panthers have now won at least seven road games in each of the last four seasons and are 34-22 in away games in that span. Milwaukee's five league road wins this season were the most of any league school, with Cleveland State and UIC each collecting four. Horizon League teams were 26-46 in league road games this season - 21-43 if you don't count UWM's 5-3 record. You don't have to look too far back, though, to find a time when the Panthers struggled mightily on the road. In the three seasons prior to Bo Ryan's arrival in Milwaukee for the 1999-2000 campaign, UWM was just 5-38 on the road. • Homecourt Advantage On Feb. 14, UWM had a 19-game homecourt winning streak, the second-longest streak in the country. Then, back-to-back home losses to UIC and Missouri State ended the streak before the Panthers bounced back with a win over Detroit. But, Milwaukee still has a sparkling homecourt record. The Panthers are 34-6 in regular season and postseason contests at the U.S. Cellular Arena since returning downtown for the 2003 Horizon League Tournament and are 85-58 all-time as the home team at the Arena. Also, combining games at both the Klotsche Center and the U.S. Cellular Arena, UWM is now 47-7 in regular season Horizon League home contests over the last seven seasons. This season, the Panthers are 11-2 at home. • Filling Up The Awards Case Three Panthers have earned Horizon League postseason honors. Joah Tucker was named to the First-Team All-League squad for the second-straight season, while Adrian Tigert and Boo Davis each earned Second-Team All-League honors for the first time in their careers. Plus, Tigert was named to the League's All-Defensive Team. Tucker earned the first-team nod by reaching double figures in all but one game this season. He has a current string of 24-straight double-figure outings and ranks sixth in the league in scoring at 16.4 ppg. Tigert posted career-bests in points (12.4) and rebounds (7.4) while tallying nine double-doubles. He has also shot a team-best 57.5 percent from the field. Davis emerged as one of the best three-point shooters in the Horizon League, making 81 shots from three-point range while averaging 16.0 ppg. The three players on the all-league squads are the most-ever for the Panthers, while UWM is the first school to place three players among the top 10 in the league since UIC had three honorees in the 2002-03 season. • Winning Consistently The Panthers now find themselves just one win away from a fourth-straight 20-win season, something that has never happened in the 110-year history of the program. In fact, until last season, no UWM team had ever even tallied three-straight 20-win seasons. The Panthers have also clinched a seventh-straight plus-.500 season, notable for a program that had just seven plus-.500 seasons in the 20 years prior to the hiring of Bo Ryan in 1999. The school record for plus-.500 seasons is nine-straight from 1965-66 thru 1973-77, and UWM also had another streak of seven-straight from 1953-54 thru 1959-60. The school record for wins in 26, set last season. All of UWM's winning has also led to a number of extended winning streaks by the Panthers. Milwaukee had an eight-game winning streak earlier this season and has had at least one winning streak of eight games or more in each of the last four seasons. • High Scoring For the fifth-straight season, the Panthers have led the Horizon League in scoring. This season, UWM has averaged 73.8 ppg, nearly four points per game more than Loyola (70.1 ppg). The Panthers have two players in the top eight and three players in the top 13 in the league in scoring, with Joah Tucker (16.4 ppg), Boo Davis (16.0) and Adrian Tigert (12.7) all appearing on the league charts. UWM has cracked the 80-point barrier eight times, including two outings of better than 90 points. And, the Panthers are 14-2 this season when scoring at least 70 points. • Record-Setting First Season As the wins continue to pile up, first-year head coach Rob Jeter has etched himself a permanent spot in the record books. With the Panthers' 19-8 record, Jeter now has more wins that any other first-year head coach in the 110-year history of the program. Steve Antrim (1987-88) and Bruce Pearl (2001-02) each won 16 games in their first seasons in Milwaukee. • Just One Of Many Titles The Horizon League regular season title won by the Panther men's basketball team adds to a growing list of league titles won by UWM athletic teams this season. In fact, just in the last week alone, the UWM women's basketball team, men's track and field team and women's track and field team all claimed Horizon League crowns. And, this fall, the UWM women's soccer team won both the regular season and league tournament titles, the men's soccer team won the tourney crown and the women's volleyball team won its third-straight regular season title. Plus, both the men's and women's soccer teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. But, being on top of the Horizon League is nothing new for the Milwaukee athletic department, which has won the McCafferty Trophy - the league's all-sports award - each of the last two years. • Injury Updates UWM has a pair of players on the injury report heading into the league tournament. Senior Adrian Tigert remains questionable after taking a hard fall in the Feb. 11 win at Cleveland State. He played 17 minutes against UIC Feb. 15 and then sat out the final two games of the regular season. Meanwhile, junior Kevin Massiah missed the final three games of the regular season after straining a leg muscle in that same game with Cleveland State. Massiah is also hopeful of returning for the league tourney. • Starting Streak Adrian Tigert's absence from the starting lineup in the final two games of the regular season snapped a string of 88-consecutive starts by the senior. Tigert had started every game since the start of his sophomore season. But, despite missing those starts, Tigert is still the school record-holder in that category, having made 115 starts in his career. He broke the existing school record when he made his 112th start Feb. 4 at Butler, moving past Chad Angeli, who played from 1997-2001. In fact, Tigert is one of just three players in school history to have started more than 100 games. His career began as a true freshman in a six-point, five-rebound effort off the bench against Concordia-St. Paul in 2001. He then started the next 27 games of that season until a knee injury in the final regular season game of the season sidelined him for more than a year. Once he returned from that injury for the start of the 2003-04 campaign, he had started every game until Saturday. Meanwhile, teammate Joah Tucker was in the starting lineup last Tuesday and has now started 90-straight contests, accounting for every game of his career in Milwaukee. Those 90 starts rank him fourth in the school's Division I history. • More Tigert Milestones Adrian Tigert has also been working toward a number of other personal and school milestones this season. He is now Milwaukee's Division I rebounding leader, as the senior has 732 career boards. He is one of just four players in the all-divisions basketball history of the school to tally more than 700 boards, and he ranks fourth on the school's all-divisions list. He trails Richard Cox for third place by 21 rebounds. He is also now UWM's all-time minutes played leader, playing 3,225 minutes in his career. He broke the record Feb. 15 against UIC, moving past the 3,222 minutes Chad Angeli played in his career. Plus, Tigert has been named the Horizon League Player of the Week twice this season -- the first two such honors of his career. • Keeping Up Appearances Seniors Adrian Tigert and Chris Hill continue to move up the all-time appearance list in school history. Tigert has played in 116 games, the second-most in school history. Chris Hill meanwhile, made the 112th appearance of his career in the regular season finale vs. Detroit, moving him into a tie for sixth on the all-time list. There are now just 17 players in UWM history that have appeared in at least 100 games. Three players share the honor for having played the most games in UWM history, with Jason Frederick, Dan Weisse and Ronnie Jones having all played in 118 contests as Panthers. The top 10 all-time appearance leaders in school history, a list Tigert and Hill are both on: Jason Frederick 1999-2003 118 Ronnie Jones 1999-2003 118 Dan Weisse 1999-2003 118 Adrian Tigert 2001-present 116 Kalombo Kadima 1999-2004 115 Chris Hill 2001-present 112 Clay Tucker 1999-2003 112 Maurice Turner 1986-1989 112 Chad Angeli 1997-2001 111 Tom Reikowski 1966-1970 110 Pat McCabe 1995-1998 109• Into The Top 10 Senior Joah Tucker moved into the top 10 on UWM's all-time, all-divisions scoring list Feb. 2 at Wright State and now continues to move up the scoring charts. He is one of just 22 players in school history to surpass 1,000 points and, after scoring 24 points Tuesday, is one of just 10 players to pass 1,300 points. He is also fourth on the Division I scoring list, having passed Jason Frederick (1,185) and Ronnie Jones (1,182) in the last month of the regular season. The top 10 all-division scoring list in UWM history: Clay Tucker 1999-03 1,788 Larry Reed 1959-60/64-67 1,693 Jerry Grochowski 1957-61 1,688 Gerald Hardnett 1975-79 1,602 Tom Kneusel 1955-59 1,565 Tom Reikowski 1965-70 1,459 Chad Angeli 1997-01 1,417 Dylan Page 2000-04 1,388 Dexter Riesch 1966-70 1,359 Joah Tucker 2003-present 1,330• A Couple More Milestones A few other Panthers have also been reaching some personal and career milestones of their own of late. Boo Davis passed 700 career points Feb. 15 and now has 758 career points. Davis has also gone past 100 career three-point field goals and now has 137 in his two years with the Panthers. Meanwhile, Chris Hill has now gone past 700 points (728) and 250 assists (294). His assist tally places him fourth on UWM's all-time Division I list, with Hill having just passed Ronnie Jones (273 assists) in the last two weeks. Joah Tucker also now has 494 career rebounds. • Topping The Charts UWM has enjoyed record-breaking success over the last few seasons and, in the process, has cemented itself as the top program in the Horizon League. In fact, over the last five regular seasons, the Panthers are 63-17 in regular season Horizon League contests. And, over the last four seasons, UWM has lost just 12 league games. The league standings for the last four-plus seasons, updated through all of this season's league action: W L Milwaukee 63 17 Butler 52 28 UIC 48 32 Detroit 47 33 Wright State 39 41 Loyola 38 42 UW-Green Bay 37 43 Cleveland State 20 60 Youngstown State 16 64• Used To This Position The recent success of the UWM men's basketball team in league play can be summed-up best by one streak. UWM has played 57-straight regular season league games where it has either been in first place or within a game of first place. The last time UWM was not in that situation was Jan. 23, 2003, when the Panthers entered a home game with Butler 1 1/2 games back of the Bulldogs. UWM won that game, moving to within a half-game of the top spot and eventually into the league lead. They've either been in first or within a game of first ever since. • Last Time Out Joah Tucker scored 24 points and Boo Davis added 22 as the Panthers claimed a 76-57 win over Detroit on Senior Night at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The Panthers built a 43-22 halftime edge and then led by as many as 30 points early in the second half while cruising to the win. Milwaukee headed outside to make the difference in the final home game of the regular season, as the Panthers knocked in 14 of their 32 three-point attempts. • Looking To Long Range With Adrian Tigert and Kevin Massiah both sidelined by injury, the Panthers were forced to look to the outside for offense in their win over Detroit last Tuesday. That means Milwaukee tried 32 three-point shots, its second-highest tally of the season. But, the 14 makes by the Panthers were the most this season, bettering the 12 UWM made at Wisconsin. Milwaukee has looked to the outside shot more in its last three outings, with the Panthers attempting 87 threes in those contests. But, through much of the season, limiting its three-point attempts has worked out just fine for Milwaukee. In UWM's eight losses, the Panthers have attempted 188 three-point shots - an average of nearly 24 per game - while shooting just 25 percent from the arc. In its 19 wins, the Panthers have attempted 349 three-point shots - an average of just 18 per game - while shooting better than 38 percent from long range. And, despite six fewer attempts per game in their wins, the Panthers average scoring 21 ppg from beyond the arc in victories while averaging just over 18 ppg from three in their losses. • Extra-Tough Tucker Senior Joah Tucker continues to do all he can to live up to all of his preseason expectations. Tucker knocked in a career-high five three-pointers in collecting 24 points and nine rebounds in the win over Detroit. He has now reached double-figures in 24-straight outings. In fact, he has reached double figures in all but one game this season and has reached double digits in 32 of his last 33 games dating back to last season. • Big Night From Boo Boo Davis tossed in 22 points in the win over Detroit Tuesday night and is averaging 19.2 ppg in his last five outings. That span included a career night of 31 points Feb. 15 against UIC, marking the first Panther to score 30 or more in a game since Joah Tucker dropped 32 against Illinois in the Sweet 16 last year. Davis has had a habit of posting some big nights for the Panthers. He has scored 20 or more points 11 times and has reached double figures offensively in 22 of 27 games. Davis has a knack for big plays in the second half of games, tallying 21 points and eight rebounds in the second half at South Dakota State, 18 points in the second half at Montana and 16 points in the second half at Youngstown State. He also set a Kohl Center-record with seven three-point baskets in a loss at Wisconsin and earned League Player of the Week honors after scoring 20 points against Oakland. • Getting Everyone Involved With Adrian Tigert and Kevin Massiah out of UWM's rotation because of injury, the Panthers have been looking to a variety of people to fill the void. Three players reached double figures in the win over Detroit and UWM got 19 points off its bench. Five players reached double figures in the BracketBusters game vs. Missouri State, as Joah Tucker led the way with 12 points, Chris Hill added 11 and Jason McCoy, Boo Davis and Avery Smith each contributed 10 points apiece. It was the first time since a Dec. 27 win at Wyoming that five players reached double figures for the Panthers, who have also had four players in double figures five times. • All About Al Sophomore Allan Hanson has developed into a consistent offensive threat for the Panthers off the bench late in the season. Hanson knocked in a career-best 10 points in the win over Detroit last Tuesday, making 3-of-4 from three-point range. He is averaging 7.3 ppg in his last three outings, earning more time at the off-guard position after playing much of the early season as only the backup point guard. • Big Work From Big D Senior Derrick Ford started the final two games of the regular season in the absence of Adrian Tigert and looks like he has saved some of the best play of his career for the closing moments. Ford tallied six rebounds and a career-high five blocks vs. Detroit in the season finale. Ford is averaging 4.6 ppg and 3.8 rpg in his last five outings while also collecting 10 blocks. He played a season-high 27 minutes in the loss to Missouri State and then 20 more minutes against UDM. • Correcting The Turnover Troubles UWM's two-game losing streak late in the season came about for a number of reasons. But, one obvious number that was not going the Panthers' way was in the turnover column. UWM collected 19 turnovers against UIC Feb. 15 and then had 22 turnovers - its most since early January - in the loss to Missouri State. The Panthers got back on track vs. Detroit, committing just 14 turnovers. And, for the season, UWM is averaging under 14 turnovers per game and has committed 12 or fewer turnovers 12 times. Milwaukee is 17-3 when committing 15 turnovers or less. • The Real McCoy Senior Jason McCoy has been doing his best to cap off his career with some of his best play. McCoy tallied a season-best 10 points vs. Missouri State Feb. 18, plus he nearly recorded the first double-double of his career by capturing nine rebounds. The senior also had three blocks and three steals and made all six of his free throw attempts. McCoy is averaging 5.9 ppg and 5.2 rpg and has 11 blocks in his last six outings. In his career, the senior has grabbed 87 of his 174 rebounds on the offensive end. • A Little Extra From Avo Sophomore Avery Smith's contributions as the season has progressed have typically come on the defensive end, where his 35 steals are second on the team. But of late, Smith has been doing what he can on the offensive end. He scored 10 points Feb. 21 vs. Missouri State - his first double figure outing since Dec. 27 at Wyoming - and then added six points off the bench in the win over Detroit. He is averaging 7.0 ppg in his last five games. • Plenty Of Second Chances UWM tallied 17 more offensive rebounds in its regular-season finale vs. Detroit and Milwaukee has now reached double figures in offensive rebounds in all but three games this season. The Panthers have 399 offensive boards overall, an average of over 14 per game. Milwaukee has reached 20 or more offensive rebounds four times and, Feb. 9 against Youngstown, UWM held a 25-2 edge on second-chance points. The Panthers also tallied an amazing 27 offensive boards in the win over Upper Iowa Nov. 21. All of those offensive rebounds add up to plenty of second-chance points for Milwaukee, which has had more second-chance points than its opponent in 22 of 27 games this season. • Quick Hits UWM had the same starting lineup for the first 25 games of the season until an injury to Adrian Tigert moved Derrick Ford in the lineup for the final two games ... with either Ford or Tigert in the lineup, UWM starts five seniors and all five starters are 23 years old ... Milwaukee has posted some impressive numbers in the paint this season. They have scored at least 30 points in the paint 16 times while tallying 50 points in the paint Feb. 4 at Butler and then bettered that with 58 points in the paint Feb. 9 against Youngstown State ... UWM is 14-1 this season when leading at halftime and has won 37 of its last 38 games when holding the edge after 20 minutes ... the Panthers are 0-2 in overtime. • Up Next The Panthers know they will play again after the Horizon League Tournament, but don't know if it will be in the NCAA Tournament or in the NIT. NCAA pairings will be announced March 12.
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