Milwaukee Returns to Cell in Style, 80-52

Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Oct. 31)
Milwaukee 80, Marian (Wis.) 52 (Ex.)

MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Four players reached double figures and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee steadily pulled away in claiming an 80-52 exhibition win over Marian Thursday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Panthers used a 17-1 run to break the game open in the first half and then emptied the bench in the second 20 minutes to beat the Sabres.

Thierno Niang had 13 points to lead Milwaukee, and the Panthers got great contributions from a trio of sophomores. J.J. Panoske and Austin Arians added 12 points apiece while Matt Tiby had 11.

As expected, the Panthers claimed a dominating edge inside. UWM had 22 offensive rebounds and claimed a 49-29 rebounding advantage, leading to a 31-9 edge in second-chance points.

Drew Binversie had 12 points to lead Marian.

"When you only have one exhibition game you want to make sure you get something out of it, and I thought tonight, regardless of what the stat sheet says, we got a lot out of this game," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said. "This is going to be a great teaching film for us. I just thought our size started to overwhelm them, but their fight was there until the end and I have a lot of respect for those guys."

Milwaukee's starting five included newcomer Tiby and Steve McWhorter, while also including the now-healthy Theirno Niang, who was limited in the final two-thirds of last season with a back injury.

Plus, the Panthers got solid minutes off the bench from senior Kyle Kelm (6 points, 6 rebounds) while also getting a look at freshmen like Cody Wichmann (5 points, 2 assists) and Brett Prahl (6 rebounds).

All of that allowed Milwaukee to win easily even though preseason all-league honoree Jordan Aaron scored just three points and took only six shots, giving plenty of others the chance to contribute on offense.

Tiby's presence had a notable impact on the Panthers. The redshirt sophomore played for the first time since his freshman season in junior college and added seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals to his 11 points. He also provided a big boost to the Panthers' spirits from the jump ball on.

"He doesn't have a problem with energy at all, and I'm excited about that. It rubs off on the rest of the team - it's contagious," Jeter said. "Matt has really made a commitment to put himself in this position and I'm happy that he is finally back on the court and in uniform for us. Now it's just a matter of everyone getting used to playing together, and that's still a work in progress."

The Panthers will open the regular season next Friday at Loyola. Milwaukee's regular season home opener is Nov. 19 against DePaul.