Sykes' Career-High Leads GB to Win; UWM Wins on Late Three-Pointer

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Feb. 26)
Green Bay 72, UIC 67
Milwaukee 61, Wright State 58

Green Bay 72, UIC 67
Playing his final collegiate game in his hometown, senior Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) had a night to remember on Thursday at UIC. The Windy City native drained a three-pointer before the halftime buzzer, capping a 21-point half and moving past 2,000 points for his career.

In the second half, after UIC rallied to tie the game at 61 with 2:54 to play, Sykes put the Phoenix back in front and scored nine points in the final 2:36 to finish with a career-high 36 points and lead Green Bay (22-7, 11-4 HL) to a 72-67 victory.

Sykes made 10-of-14 shots in the opening half, scoring five points and adding two assists and two steals as Green Bay closed on an 11-0 run to lead 40-25 at the break. With under 10 seconds on the clock, Sykes grabbed a rebound, drove the floor and connected on a triple as the horn sounded to reach the 2,000-point milestone.

With 2,017 career points, Sykes joined Tony Bennett as the only players in Green Bay history in the 2,000-point club. Sykes moved into ninth place on the Horizon League’s scoring list and became the first player in league history to tally 2,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists.

UIC shot 58.3 percent in the second half and drained four threes to close the game, finally tying the game with under three minutes remaining. The Flames would never lead, however, with Sykes scoring on the other end and then getting a steal. Junior Carrington Love (Milwaukee, Wis.) found senior Alfonzo McKinnie (Chicago, Ill.) for a dunk and a 65-61 lead.

Jay Harris poured in 26 points and shot 8-of-9 from the field to lead UIC.

McKinnie, a high school teammate of Sykes at Marshall High School, recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Sykes added six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Junior Jordan Fouse (Racine, Wis.) had seven assists without a turnover and added six rebounds, two blocks and two assists.

Milwaukee 61, Wright State 58
J.J. Panoske's three-pointer with three seconds left lifted visiting University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (13-16, 8-7 Horizon) to a thrilling 61-58 victory over Wright State (11-18, 3-12 Horizon) tonight at the Nutter Center. The win is the Panthers' third in a row and gives them eight wins in Horizon League play, which surpasses their total from a season ago (7).

Neither team was able to get much separation in a closely contested first half that featured six ties. Wright State led by as many as four points on a pair of occasions, but, but back-to-back threes by J.R. Lyle and Matt Tiby, sandwiched around a Raiders bucket, evened the score at 20.

A three from Tiby ignited a 9-0 Panther run that gave Milwaukee a 26-20 lead, its largest of the period, but Wright State closed the half with eight unanswered points to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room.

Lyle drained two of three attempts from the foul line with 9:28 left to kick off an 11-2 run that was capped by a pair of freebies from Akeem Springs, to grab a 56-48 lead with 5:04 showing on the clock.

Milwaukee led by seven points with 3:43 left to play before Wright State mounted a comeback and the Panthers went cold from the foul line. Seven consecutive Raider points over the next 3:21, combined with Milwaukee missing six straight from the charity stripe allowed Wright State to even the score at 58 with 22 seconds remaining.

That's when Panoske stepped up and buried the game-winner, a three from the left wing, to give the Panthers their second straight road win and sixth win in their last games overall.

Tiby, who finished with a career-high 24 points, hit 7 of 9 shots from the field, including all four of his attempts from beyond the arc, while adding six rebounds and two assists. In the first half alone, he went 3-for-3 from long distance en route to 13 points.

Steve McWhorter added nine points, four boards, six assists and a pair of steals, while Springs also tossed in nine points. Lyle added eight points and Panoske finished with seven points, seven rebounds and three blocks as Milwaukee won its second straight game at the Nutter Center.