Milwaukee Hits Season-High 13 Threes in Win

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Feb. 10)
Milwaukee 84, Oakland 67

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (10-15, 5-6 Horizon) drained a season-high 13 three-pointers to earn an 84-67 victory over visiting Oakland (12-14, 7-4) tonight for its fifth straight win at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The Panthers, who put together arguably their best performance of the season, shot 51.6 percent (32-for-62) from the field and 56.5 percent (13-for-23) from three-point range as they won for the fifth time in their last eight games overall.

“It’s good to have J.R. Lyle back and playing with energy and passion,” Milwaukee Head Coach Rob Jeter said. “This group has shown how tough it can be and how tough it is. They refuse to give anything but their best. I’m pleased that we shared the basketball, made the extra pass and just had some fun out there.”

Freshman Justin Jordan hit three of Milwaukee’s five three-pointers in the opening nine-plus minutes as the Panthers jumped out to a 17-6 lead. Milwaukee led by as many as 12 points on a pair of occasions in the opening half, the last time coming when Steve McWhorter nailed a triple with 2:35 remaining for a 30-18 Panthers lead.

But, Oakland mounted a charge late in the half, closing out the period on a 9-1 run to get within 31-27 at the break.

The Golden Grizzlies opened the second half with a 9-2 spurt to seize a 36-33 lead just minutes into the period, but a layup by McWhorter, a three by Matt Tiby and a Lyle dunk gave Milwaukee a 43-36 lead and control of the contest.

Following a pair of Dante Williams free throws, the Panthers used a 21-11 run, which was capped by a three-pointer from Cody Wichmann, to open up a 64-49 lead and Oakland would never get closer than 11 points the remainder of the way.

Milwaukee shot a sizzling 67.7 percent (21-for-31) from the field in the second half after knocking down 35.5 percent (11-for-31) in the first period. The Panthers also held Oakland’s second-leading scorer, Corey Petros, to just seven points, which is seven points less than his season average (14.6 ppg).

McWhorter scored a team-high 17 points and just missed out on a double-double with nine assists to go with five rebounds and four steals. Lyle added 15 points off the bench for his best output since December 14, and Akeem Springs collected 13 points and 10 boards for his first career double-double. Tiby added 11 points as he scored in double figures for the 16th consecutive contest.

Max Hooper led Oakland with 15 points off-the-bench, connecting on five three-pointers.Kahlil Felder added 14 points and nine assists for the Golden Grizzlies who shot better from three-point range (9-of-20, 45%) than they did overall from the field (23-of-54, 42.6%).