UWM Scores Road Win at UIC

#HLMBB Scoreboard (Feb. 19)
Milwaukee 71, UIC 60

Steve McWhorter matched a career high with 21 points and Akeem Springs added 17 to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (11-16, 6-7 Horizon) to a 71-60 victory over UIC (7-21, 3-10 Horizon) tonight at the UIC Pavilion. The Panthers, who earned their first true road win of the season, have now prevailed in six of their last 10 contests overall.

Three-pointers by McWhorter and Springs helped Milwaukee get out to a 10-4 lead, but the host Flames used a 12-5 run to surge ahead, 16-15, with 7:25 left in the half. The Panthers shot 50 percent (3-for-6) from beyond the arc in the opening period and closed the half with seven unanswered points to take a 31-26 lead into the locker room.

Junior J.J. Panoske's inspired play helped spark the Panthers in the second half as he tallied 12 of his 14 points on the night in the second stanza.

After a jumper by Paris Burns cut the Milwaukee lead down to two points, the Panthers used a 16-6 run to stake claim to a 54-42 advantage with 8:14 remaining. Panoske's three-pointer, his second of the night, capped the game-changing run.

UIC wouldn't go down without a fight however and a pair of free throws from Jay Harris chopped the Milwaukee lead down to 57-52. But, McWhorter took over from there, scoring seven points as part of 12-5 spurt that gave the Panthers their largest lead of the night at 69-55.

McWhorter added six rebounds and four assists to go with his career-high-tying 21 points, while Springs hit 7 of 10 shots from the field en route to his 17 points. Matt Tiby weathered a rough night shooting the ball to still put up 11 points and nine rebounds as he scored in double figures for the 18th consecutive contest, and Panoske pitched in 14 points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks in arguably his best performance of the season.

Harris led UIC with a game-high 27 points.