Panthers Play For NCAA Berth Tuesday
March 9, 2003
Game Notes in PDF Format
Game #31 - UWM vs. Butler UWM gets the opportunity it has been waiting nearly 107 years for - a chance to earn a berth to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. Tuesday night, the Panthers face Butler in the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship game with the winner receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The contest, at the U.S. Cellular Arena in downtown Milwaukee, tips off at 6:05 p.m. CST.
About The Bracket The Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship has been trimmed from nine teams to two teams over the course of a week and the new format, designed to protect the higher seeds, has done just that. Saturday night, top-seeded Butler punched its ticket to the final with a 58-55 win over fifth-seeded Detroit, while UWM advanced to the final with a 75-73 win over UIC. Detroit had advanced to the semifinals with a win over Loyola Friday night, while UIC beat Youngstown State in another second-round game Friday.
About The Bulldogs Butler enters Tuesday's championship game 25-4 and riding a seven-game winning streak. The Bulldogs got 19 points from Joel Cornette and 12 points from Brandon Miller in their win Saturday over Detroit. Four players average in double figures for the Bulldogs, who hold opponents to under 60 ppg. Butler's main offensive weapon is the three-point shot, with the Bulldogs making 246 of them this season. The likely Bulldog lineup: G 4 Brandon Miller (6-0, Sr., New Castle, Ind.) G 10 Darnell Archey (6-1, Sr., New Castle, Ind.) F 22 Mike Monserez (6-6, Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) F 51 Lewis Curry (6-7, Sr., Ft. Wayne, Ind.) C 33 Joel Cornette (6-9, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio)
Nail-Biters UWM and Butler have combined to produce some of the most memorable games in the Horizon League over the past three seasons. The last four matchups between the two teams have been decided by a total of eight points, with three of the four decided at the buzzer and the fourth decided with under five seconds remaining. A season ago at Butler, Clay Tucker hit a three-point shot from the top of the key as time expired to give UWM a 73-72 win. Then, 11 days later in Milwaukee, Jason Frederick missed a three-point shot at the buzzer that allowed Butler to hang on for a 59-58 win. This season, Butler's final hope for tying the game in Milwaukee missed with under five seconds remaining and a Tucker free throw provided the final, 69-65, margin. Then in Indianapolis, Avery Sheets hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to send Butler to a 76-74 win. Throw in the final matchup between the two teams in 2001 - an 80-75 Butler win in overtime at Hinkle Fieldhouse - and the last five games between the two teams have been in doubt with less than five seconds remaining in regulation.
Looking Back UWM battled through a rebounding disadvantage and some cold shooting from three-point range to record an exciting, 75-73, win Saturday night over Illinois-Chicago in the semifinals of the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship. After a slow start, the Panthers recovered to hold a four-point halftime lead and a six-point edge early in the second half. But UIC rallied, grabbing a six-point lead of their own with under six minutes remaining. UWM tied the game on two Dylan Page free throws and then took the lead for good on a Page layin with just over a minute remaining.
Title Shot UWM is 3-7 all-time in the Horizon League Championship and will be appearing in the championship game for the first-time ever Tuesday night. In fact, Saturday night marked only UWM's second-ever appearance in the semifinals. UWM's all-time League Championship results: 1996 L, 80-78 vs. Northern Illinois @ Dayton 1997 W, 81-70 vs. Wright State @ Dayton L, 48-36 vs. Butler @ Dayton 1998 L, 74-60 vs. Detroit @ Green Bay 1999 L, 72-66 vs. UW-Green Bay @ Chicago 2000 W, 62-58 vs. UW-Green Bay @ Chicago L, 65-51 vs. Butler @ Chicago 2001 L, 64-63 vs. Wright State @ Dayton 2002 L, 75-63 vs. UIC @ Cleveland 2003 W, 75-73 vs. UIC @ Milwaukee
Post-Season Plans UWM is looking to secure its first-ever berth to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament and its first-ever Division I post-season appearance with a win Tuesday night. The closest UWM has ever come to a Division I post-season bid was the 1992-93 season, when the Panthers finished 23-4 as an independent but found themselves shut out of both the NCAA Tournament and the NIT. UWM has been a full member of Division I play since the 1990-91 season. The Panthers also officially competed as a Division I institution for a time in the 1970's, but regularly played a large schedule of non-Division I teams and was never in consideration for a post-season bid. UWM did advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 1989.
Crowding Them In Saturday's crowd of 7,411 at the U.S. Cellular Arena marked the second-largest crowd in school history. The record is 8,631, set during the 1992-93 season when UWM and UW-Green Bay played at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Officially considered a home game for the Panthers, the crowd boosted UWM's record average attendance for the season to 3,778.
The Crowd Helps Saturday's win on what is considered a home court allowed UWM to push its home record this season to 12-0 and its home court winning streak to 14 games. The Panthers are now 41-9 at home over the last four years. This year's squad is looking to become the first UWM team to finish a season unbeaten at home since the 1992-93 campaign, when the Panthers played most of their games at the U.S. Cellular Arena. UWM has already completed an unbeaten season at the Klotsche Center (11-0) for the first time since the 1988-89 campaign, when the Panthers went 15-0 at home.
20-20 Vision UWM's first-team All-Horizon League performers, Clay Tucker and Dylan Page, came through in the Panthers' semifinal win over UIC. Tucker led the team in scoring with 24 points while adding six rebounds. He also pitched-in with five assists, four steals and two blocks. Page added 22 points and nine rebounds, plus a career-high four blocks. The two also combined to make 24-of-27 free throws.
Block Party UWM recorded a season-high nine blocks Saturday night, including a career-high four blocks by junior Dylan Page. The total ties the second-most in the school's Division I history (11 vs. Illinois Tech, 1995-96) and ties the most-ever against a Division I opponent (UW-Green Bay, 1992-93) by the Panthers. On the season, UWM has blocked 106 shots - a new Division I school record.
Charitable Contributions UWM took advantage of its opportunities at the free throw line Saturday night, converting 29-of-37 (78.4 percent). The Panthers have shot 69.3 percent from the line this season.
Balancing Act UWM continues to find great balance in its offensive attack, landing four players in double figures in each of their last three games, including Saturday. That marked the 13th times this season UWM has had four players in double figures. Plus Dec. 1 against Maine, five Panthers were in double figures.
Wrapping Up The Regular Season While UWM came up one win short of first place, the Panthers still recorded their best League regular season in school history. UWM's 13-3 record was two wins better than last season's 11-5 campaign, which was the only other time in school history the Panthers finished above .500 in a Division I league. UWM's eight-game League winning streak is also a school-record, as were UWM's five League road wins and its perfect 8-0 League home record.
Bringing The Championship Home UWM's host role for the second and semifinals rounds of the 2003 Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship was solidified by virtue of the Panthers claiming a top-three finish during the regular season and UWM is hosting the championship game as the Horizon League transitions to a new tournament format. Butler will receive the same hosting rights next year to complete the League's original tournament rotation. Then, beginning in 2005, the regular-season champion will host the second and semifinal rounds of the championship, while the highest remaining seed will host the title game.
Ticket Talk Tickets for the 2003 Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship title game are on sale now at all Milwaukee-area Ticket Master outlets, by phone at 414-276-4545 or online at ticketmaster.com. Adult tickets are $24 while student tickets are $12.
Winning Ways By hitting 23 wins, this Panther squad has moved into a tie for second place on the all-time wins list in UWM's 107-year basketball history. Only six other teams in the school's history have even won 20 games. The Panthers have tied the 1992-93 squad with 23 wins - the most ever in Division I. The 1988-89 team won 24 games while advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. A list of UWM's winningest teams follows: 1988-89 24 wins 1992-93 23 wins 2002-03 23 wins 1991-92 20 wins 1981-82 20 wins 1949-50 20 wins 1976-77 19 wins 1959-60 18 wins 1972-73 18 wins 1982-83 18 wins 1990-91 18 wins
20-20 Vision UWM is experiencing its first 20-win season since the 1992-93 campaign, grabbing its 20th win on Feb. 13 against UIC. UWM was one of the first teams to reach 20 wins this season - in fact, when the Panthers won their 20th, only Creighton and Florida had won 20.
At The Arena Saturday's semifinal game was the first at the U.S. Cellular Arena for the Panthers since a 75-65 loss to Wright State on Feb. 21, 1998. UWM's first-ever Arena appearance as the home team came vs. Texas-El Paso on Dec. 13, 1971. Including Saturday's contest, UWM has played 104 games as the home team at the Arena, compiling a 52-52 record (.500). The Panthers have also played Marquette a handful of times at the Arena, though UWM was the road team for all of those contests.
Coach Of The Year ... Or Years UWM head coach Bruce Pearl became just the third coach in the history of the Horizon League to be named Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons when the League's post-season awards were announced last Sunday. Pearl has added to his impressive coaching resume by leading the Panthers to their best record since the 1992-93 season and to the third-most wins in the school's 107-year basketball history. Pearl joined Pete Gillen (1992-93 and 1993-94) and Barry Collier (1998-99 and 1999-2000) as the only coaches to win the award two consecutive times. When Pearl won the award last year, he was the first UWM men's basketball coach to ever win the award and his 16 wins last year were the most-ever by a first-year coach at UWM in the school's basketball history.
Now On The First Team In a season of firsts for the UWM basketball program, the Panthers saw two players named to the All-Horizon League First Team for the first-time ever. Senior Clay Tucker joined junior Dylan Page on the squad. For Tucker it marks the second-straight year he was on the first team, making him one of only 35 players in league history to accomplish that feat. For Page, it's the first appearance on any All-Horizon League team in his three-year UWM career. Prior to Tucker's appearance on the first team last season, UWM has had only one other player (Chad Angeli, 2000) ever make the first team. Tucker was also named to the Horizon League's All-Defensive Team.
A Season Of Statistics UWM has made an impressive mark in a number of statistical columns during the regular season. The Panthers remain on pace for their best field-goal percentage since moving to the Division I ranks in 1990. UWM is shooting 47.6 percent from the field this year, better than the 46.7 percent in the 1990-91 season. The Panthers have also scored 2,328 points so far this season, the most since scoring 2,373 in the 1990-91 campaign. Plus, UWM's 826 field goals are the most since the 1991-92 season.
Pulling Rank UWM has been making a splash on the national scene all season long and it seems as though the buzzer-beating losses the Panthers suffered on consecutive Saturdays at the end of the season gained them some national respect. Not considered a bubble team entering the Bracket Buster game with SIU, UWM has emerged two weeks later as a team in the running for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament should it not claim an automatic bid into the field of 65. UWM is 7th in the College Insider.com Mid-Major Top 25 and its last two losses have come to the teams ranked one and two in that poll. The Panthers are sixth in the ESPN.com Mid-Major Top 10. Plus, UWM is up to 50th in the RPI and 47th in the Sagarin ratings.
Tucker Tops The Charts Senior Clay Tucker became UWM's all-time, all-division's scoring leader Feb. 27 against Wright State. He now has 1,747 points, besting the 1,693 Larry Reed recorded in his stellar career as a Panther. He is one of only four Panther players to score more than 1,600 points in his career and one of only two players to score at least 1,500 points while grabbing at least 500 rebounds.
#1 Clay Tucker (1999-present) 1,747
Also On Top Clay Tucker is also UWM's Division I leader in a number of other categories and moved past Chad Angeli for the Division I rebounding lead Jan. 25 against Wright State. He also tops the list for three-point field goals, field goals and steals. His 108 starts entering the post-season rank him second to Angeli in that category while Tucker is also in the top five in assists and blocks. Plus, Tucker's 110 appearances put him right behind Angeli. On the all-time, all-divisions charts, Tucker is the all-time leader in steals and three-point field goals.
Fighting For 40 Senior Clay Tucker made his final collegiate appearance in his home state of Ohio a memorable one Feb. 27 against Wright State, recording a career-high 40 points. Tucker scored 26 points in the second half alone Thursday while making 15-of-25 shots overall, including five three-point baskets. The outburst was the best scoring effort by a Panther since Von McDade scored 42 against Wright State at the end of the 1990-91 season.
Tucker Is Terrific Clay Tucker's 40 points against Wright State continued a late-season surge by the Panthers' senior leader, overcoming early-season back problems to put together a memorable senior year. Tucker moved his scoring average from 13.6 ppg after the game at Georgia Dec. 28 to 18.2 ppg entering the championship game. He did so by scoring in double figures in 17 of his last 18 games, including a 24 ppg average over his last five contests. He also had just 11 three-point shots in his first 10 games before knocking down 39 three-point baskets in his last 16 outings.
Double-Figures Forever Dylan Page rose to his status as one of the top players in the Horizon League thanks to incredible consistency throughout the season. The junior forward has been in double figures in 29 of UWM's 30 games, with only a six-point effort against Florida International breaking up a full-season string. Page has been in double figures in 24-straight games. He also scored more than 20 points on 11 different occassions during the regular season and went through a streak where he set a new career-high four times in a seven-game span, including a 32-point effort against Loyola Dec. 21.
Crashing The Glass After lagging behind opponents much of the season on the glass, the Panthers dominated the boards in their last three regular-season games and then held their own against a UIC team that dominated the boards against them earlier in the season. The final numbers on Saturday found UIC with a 40-35 edge in the glass. Last Saturday in the regular-season finale, UWM outrebounded Butler, 31-24, including 11-6 on the offensive glass. The Panthers have grabbed 51 offensive rebounds in their last four games and have held a 39-29 edge on the boards, on average, in their last three contests.
Streaking Into The Records UWM posted a pair of eight-game winning streaks during the 2002-03 regular season and also won nine-straight Horizon League contests, a string that was only broken Saturday at Butler. The two eight-game streaks were the best since the 1992-93 season, when the Panthers had streaks of eight-straight and 10-straight wins. UWM's best-ever winning streak is 14 games, set during the 1988-89 season, a year that saw the Panthers advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. The nine-game Horizon League winning streak is the best in school history. Overall, the Panthers have still won 12 of their last 15 games.
Comeback Kids On each of the final two Saturdays of the regular season, the Panthers dug themselves big holes and two Saturdays in a row they have come back to take the lead. March 1 at Butler, UWM trailed, 57-41, but took a 65-64 lead with four minutes and led again by a point with 4.2 seconds remaining. The previous week at Southern Illinois, UWM trailed, 47-31, with 17 minutes to play before outscoring SIU, 21-5, over the next eight minutes of the game. UWM's second-half comebacks brought back memories of a number of similar comebacks a year ago, including the Panthers overcoming a double-digit deficit to win at Butler and a 21-point deficit to beat Virginia Tech.
The Margin Of Victory UWM could easily have an 12-game winning streak heading into Tuesday night if not for a pair of buzzer-beating losses in the last two weeks. Feb. 22, the Panthers were beaten, 66-64, by Southern Illinois on a tip-in at the buzzer. Then March 1, a three-pointer at the buzzer sent Butler past UWM, 76-74. The Panthers are 6-2 in games decided by five points or less after claiming a two-point win over UIC in the semifinals on Saturday night.
Double-Time Junior Nate Mielke recorded the first double-double of his career Feb. 27 against Wright State and was a dominating presence inside for the Panthers. He scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while playing just 22 minutes. He also added five assists and four blocks. Mielke now has 32 blocks this season - the best mark on the team.
Dominating Numbers The storyline Feb. 27 in UWM's win at Wright State was complete domination by the Panthers in nearly every facet of the game. Along with building a 28-point first-half lead, the Panthers held a huge edge on the boards (48-23) and in shooting percentage (53.8-38.2). UWM limited the Raiders to just 26.7 percent shooting in the first half and three Panthers were already in double figures in scoring by halftime. The 33-point margin of victory was the largest of the season for the Panthers and the largest ever in a Horizon League road contest by UWM as well as the largest in a league game since a Jan. 15, 2000, win over Loyola (92-58).
Lettenberger Lights It Up Senior Justin Lettenberger recorded stellar efforts on each of the final two Saturdays of the regular season, collecting 14 points and nine rebounds in games at Southern Illinois and Butler. And, despite going 0-for-6 from the field Saturday night against UIC, he still contributed six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Lettenberger is UWM's leading scorer and rebounder off the bench, averaging 6.1 ppg and 4.3 rpg.
The First Half ... UWM has posted a number of dominating first-half performances of late, including a 50-24 edge Feb. 27 at Wright State. In February, the Panthers posted big halftime leads in three-straight games, leading Detroit, 38-22, at the half Feb. 6 before leading Cleveland State, 52-35, at the break Feb. 8 and UW-Green Bay, 46-23, after 20 minutes Feb. 10. UWM is 21-1 in games in which it is tied or leading at the half.
... And The Second Half UWM has also been making a habit of posting strong second-halves. March 1 against Butler, UWM was down just two at halftime but fell down 16 in the second half before rallying to take the lead. A week earlier UWM put up big second-half numbers, outscoring Southern Illinois, 35-25, in the second 20 minutes. Feb. 15, despite playing for the fifth time in 10 days, UWM outscored Youngstown State, 50-30, in the second half. Nine players played at least 15 minutes in the win and no player played more than 30 minutes. Two nights earlier against UIC (Feb. 13), the Panthers overcame an eight-point deficit with eight minutes remaining to claim an 81-78 win.
Playing A Lot Seniors Jason Frederick, Ronnie Jones and Dan Weisse have moved to the top of the Panther record book after appearing in the Feb. 15 contest with Youngstown State and continue to further their place in the books every time they take the floor. Entering the championship game Tuesday, they have played in 116 contests, besting Chad Angeli's 111 appearances. Clay Tucker has missed a handful of games in his career because of injury, but has appeared in 110 games and is second on the all-time starts list with 108. He missed two games and four starts this season.
Thousands And Thousands Of Points Seniors Jason Frederick and Ronnie Jones have become the fifth and sixth players in UWM's most-recent Division I history to score at least 1,000 points in a career. Frederick now stands fourth on the scoring list with 1,173 points while Jones sits fifth with 1,148. The two are also moving up the ranks of three-point shooters in UWM history. Frederick has 241 in his career - second all-time - while Jones has 197 - fourth all-time. Clay Tucker is the all-time leader with 260. Jones is also among the all-time assist leaders.
Sweeping Success UWM's win Feb. 27 gave the Panthers a regular-season series sweep of the Wright State, the fifth Horizon League opponent the Panthers have swept this season. That's the most in school history. Plus, UWM swept Detroit and Cleveland State during the regular season for the first time in school history.
Doing It On The Road, Too UWM's win Feb. 27 also gave the Panthers eight road wins this season, the most since the 1992-93 season. Last year UWM won five road games, a number it also reached in the 1993-94 season. The Panthers won 10 road games during the 1992-93 campaign. UWM won just five road games over a three-season span from 1996-1998.
Stealing The Show UWM tied a season-high by collecting 14 steals Feb. 10 against UW-Green Bay after originally set its season-high with 14 steals Jan. 23 against Butler. Last year, UWM had 264 steals, tied for the third-most in school history, and the Panthers have not backed off that pace this season, registering 260 in 30 games. Clay Tucker leads the way with 52 steals.
Turn Me Over UWM's pressure defense is forcing an average of 17.5 turnovers. The Panthers made a most impressive statement Jan. 23 against Butler. The Bulldogs entered the game averaging the fewest turnovers of any team in Division I and the Panthers turned them over 24 times. On Dec. 6 the Panthers forced 31 Florida International turnovers.
Seniors Sparkle UWM's seniors are making the most of their final games in a Panther uniform, led by the scoring tandem of Clay Tucker and Ronnie Jones. The two combined for 49 points in their final game at the Klotsche Center Feb. 13, an 81-78 win over UIC. Then Feb. 15 the two combined for 39 more points. In all, UWM has seven seniors on its active roster. In the three years prior to when this senior class took the game floor for the first time at UWM, the Panthers won just 19 games. This class has already won 23 in this season alone.
One Turnover!?!? Senior Dan Weisse had one turnover in the Feb. 22 loss to Southern Illinois. That wouldn't seem like a noteworthy number, or something terribly positive to point out. But it gave Weisse just 10 turnovers on the season, an average of one turnover every 45 minutes. Weisse has committed just 83 turnovers in his career at UWM while playing every game in four years.
Hot Hand UWM continues to put up solid shooting numbers this season and Thursday's win at Wright State was another example. The Panthers shot 53.8 percent, pushing their season percentage to 47.8 percent. UWM shot a season-high 56.7 percent from the field in the Feb. 1 win at Loyola and the Panthers have shot 50 percent or better from the field 11 times this season. They hit that mark just four times all of last season. The 47.8 percent mark for the season would rank as the best single-season shooting percentage in the school's Division I history. UWM is also shooting better than 48 percent in league games.
People Watching The crowd of 5,007 at the game Jan. 23 against Butler marked the second-largest crowd in Klotsche Center history, just behind the 5,015 that saw the Panthers and Bulldogs play last season. The crowd Feb. 13 of 4,738 ranks fifth all-time. The large crowds have added up to another record-setting year for attendance at the Klotsche Center. The regular-season average of 3,448 easily broke the record of 3,226, set last year. The top five Klotsche crowds:
#1 1/30/02 vs. Butler 5,015
Returning The Favor The Feb. 13 win over UIC allowed the Panthers to avenge each of their first two losses in Horizon League play. UWM beat UWGB Feb. 10 to avenge its other early loss. The Panthers have now beaten every team in the league at least once for the second-straight season.
Hitting The Triple UWM took advantage of UW-Green Bay's sagging defense to knock in a season-high 14 three-point shots Feb. 10. The Panthers have made 12 threes in two other games this year. The school record is 18, set against UIC two years ago.
30-20-20 Club The three-man contingent of Clay Tucker, Dylan Page and Jason Frederick combined for 79 of UWM's 92 points Feb. 1 against Loyola, one of the best three-person scoring efforts in school history. UWM hadn't had three players score at least 20 points in a game since Dec. 15, 1990 against Central Florida. In that contest, Joe Schultz scored 24 points, Randy Doss had 23 and Von McDade added 20. In that game against Loyola, Tucker scored 36 points, which was his career high until his 40-point performance against Wright State.
Chilling The Penguins After giving up 102 points Jan. 9 in its loss to UIC, UWM's defense rose to the occasion Jan. 11 against Youngstown State. The Panthers allowed just 56 points while forcing 17 turnovers and allowing YSU to shoot just 38.6 percent, including 28.6 percent in the first half. UWM also held YSU to just 37 percent shooting in the second game between the teams.
Big Trip For the first time in school history, UWM swept its annual road swing to Detroit and Cleveland State. UWM's win at Detroit Jan. 2 was the first win in school history at Calihan Hall, where the Panthers were 0-7 entering the contest. It also marked just the third loss in the last 71 home games and the first this season for Detroit. Meanwhile the Panthers won for the first time since the 1999-2000 season at Cleveland. The Panthers also swept the two teams at home for the second-straight time.
Player Of The Week ... Again Some great play in the month of December landed Dylan Page a pair of Horizon League Player of the Week awards. In winning his first award, Page averaged 27 ppg in two contests from Dec. 8-14. Then, Page averaged 28 ppg in his next two contests to win the award again the following week. He scored a career-high 32 points, and added nine rebounds, in the Dec. 21 win over Loyola. He had eight points in UWM's 14-0 second-half run and he scored 27 of his 32 points in the second half.
Paging Through The Records Dylan Page made a habit of resetting his career high earlier this year. He scored 20 points for the first time in his career Dec. 1 in a win over Maine, then scored 25 points in a win over Valparaiso Dec. 11. He pushed his career-high to 27 points in the win at Mississippi Valley State Dec. 14 and, after scoring 24 points against Parkside Dec. 17, recorded a new career-high again Dec. 21 with 32 points against Loyola.
Providing Assistance Senior Ronnie Jones scored 10 second-half points Dec. 1 in the win over Maine, but far more impressive was the nine-assist total he put on the board. Along with it being a career-high, Jones nearly became the first Panther to record 10 assists in a game since Cyrus Caldwell had 11 against Fairleigh Dickinson in 1997.
Record Setting UWM scored 64 points in the second half Dec. 21 against Loyola, the most-ever points in one half by the Panthers since moving to Division I for the 1990-91 season. The previous high was 61, recorded during the 1990-91 season (Cal-State Northridge) and the 1991-92 season (UW-Oshkosh). UWM also hit the 100-point mark for the first time in two seasons. It marked the most points in a non-overtime game since 1995.
Still Sidelined UWM already has at least two players sitting out this season due to injury. Adrian Tigert injured his knee in the final game of the regular season last year and will likely miss this season while recovering from off-season surgery. Meanwhile, junior James Wright will also sit out the season after breaking his leg last year. Plus, senior Kalombo Kadima could redshirt this season after being slowed by a bout with meningitis during the fall. He has been practicing with the team but has not been dressing for games. Meanwhile, UWM also has a handful of players on the sidelines this year looking forward to cracking the rotation in 2003-04. Sophomore Joah Tucker will sit out this season after coming to UWM from Bradley while recruited walk-on Gordy Zastrow will likely redshirt this season.
Road Warriors The home court was not something UWM got to see a great deal of early this season. Between the start of the regular season Nov. 23 and a home game Jan. 23 against Butler, UWM is played just five games at home while playing 12 games away from home. The bulk of the Panthers' home league schedule also passed in the blink of an eye, as UWM played four of its eight league home games in an eight-day period. The Panthers then wound up finishing with four-straight games on the road entering the post-season.
Toughening Up UWM challenged itself with a non-conference slate that included three NCAA Tournament foes from a year ago, as well as two in-season tournaments. Wisconsin, Georgia and Valparaiso all made the Big Dance a season ago. As the season has progressed, UWM's schedule has proven to be a tough one. Wisconsin, Valparaiso and Mississippi Valley State are all in line to win the regular season championships of their respective conferences, while right now it appears UWM will have played at least 13 games against teams that will be in the 2003 post-season.
Tournament Titles And Honors With its two wins in the SMS Pizza Hut Classic, UWM won an in-season Division I tournament for the first time in school history. The Panthers also hadn't won an in-season tournament in any division since 1980. Senior Clay Tucker was named the most valuable player of the tournament. Tucker averaged 19.5 ppg in the two contests, scoring 25 in the championship contest. UWM's Jason Frederick and Dylan Page joined Tucker on the all-tournament team.
Polling Place UWM was picked to win the 2003 Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship in a poll of the league's coaches, SIDs and media members. The Panthers received 16 first-place votes and 294 points overall, 28 points better than second-place Butler. UIC, which won the league tournament last year, was picked for third, while Detroit was picked for fourth. It's the first-time ever UWM has been picked to win the league. The league poll is not the only place where the Panthers are picked to land on top of the Horizon League heap. Sporting News, Street & Smith's and Athlon Magazine are just some of the publications picking UWM to win the league title. Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and ESPN.com are two of the latest groups to add their name to the list of people picking the Panthers in the Horizon League for the 2002-2003 season. Meanwhile, Basketball News ranked UWM 43rd in its poll of the top 64 teams in the country, its highest ranking ever in any national poll.
Pre-Season Honors Senior Clay Tucker was named a pre-season Mid-Major All-American by CollegeInsider.com. Tucker is joined on the list by fellow Horizon League performer David Bailey. A total of 21 Mid-Major players from 21 conferences were selected for the honor. Tucker was an NABC All-District 11 honoree last season and is a candidate for numerous national honors this year. Tucker and Ronnie Jones also each earned a spot on the pre-season All-Horizon League team. Tucker garnered first-team honors while Jones received second-team honors. The placements match the spots the two received on last year's post-season team.
Busting The Bracket UWM was one of 18 teams nationally invited to compete in ESPN's "Bracket Buster Saturday," scheduled for Feb. 22. The Panthers played a road contest at Southern Illinois. The concept was developed to assist mid-major conferences in getting additional teams into the NCAA Tournament by adding a strong non-conference game to the end of the schedule.
Welcome Aboard UWM has inked two players to National Letters of Intent to join the program for the 2003-04 season. Junior college transfer Ed McCants is rated as the second-best shooting guard in the nation and will join the Panthers from Paris JC. Meanwhile, sharpshooter Andre White from Zion-Benton High School in Zion, Ill., is rated as one of the top 15 seniors in Illinois.
TV Time UWM has received plenty of TV exposure during the 2002-03 season, including the school's first-ever appearance on ESPN2. The Panthers' Bracket Buster contest with Southern Illinois was televised nationally. Plus, Bruce Pearl's weekly coaches show continues on CBS-58. The show, hosted by Rock Rote, airs Sunday nights at 10:30 p.m. Bruce Pearl The Radio Star "Bruce Pearl On Basketball" can be heard every Monday at 7 p.m. on 1290 AM, WMCS. The one-hour show aired live earlier this season from Hooligan's on Milwaukee's east side but has moved for the second half of the season to The Gasthaus in the UWM Student Union.
Up Next
If UWM should win Tuesday night, it will sit back and wait for Selection Sunday to determine its opponent and destination for its first-ever NCAA Tournament contest. The pairings will be announced at 5 p.m. CST on CBS. If UWM should lose, the Panthers will then wait to see if they are selected as either an at-large entrant into the NCAA Tournament or selected for the National Invitation Tournament.
|
