Stull carries Panthers
DETROIT - Brock Stull woudn’t let UW-Milwaukee’s season end Sunday.
Stull scored 25 points, Brett Prahl scored 14 and sixth-seeded UW-Milwaukee defeated No. 3 seed Illinois-Chicago, 80-75, in a Horizon League tournament quarterfinal game at Little Caesars Arena.
Close to unstoppable down the stretch, Stull scored 18 of UWM’s 25 points over the final 10 minutes.
Stull’s scoring eruption helped the Panthers avenge two losses to the rival Flames in the regular season.
“A very good battle from our guys and a very good UIC team that really had our number,” UWM coach Pat Baldwin said. “We knew going into this game that we were in for a big fight.”
Tied at 37 at halftime, UWM came out a flat and found itself trailing, 51-44, with 12:32 to play. Stull then began to help his team turn the tide.
He scored six straight points to get the Panthers within three, and then Jeremiah Bell hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 55-55 with 8:56 to play.
A pair of Stull free throws gave the Panthers the lead at 57-55 before Prahl finished a key play. He converted a lob pass from Bell for the bucket and drew a flagrant foul from Illinois-Chicago’s Jordan Blount. Prahl two free throws made it a four-point play, gave the Panthers a 61-55 lead and capped an 11-0 run.
After Dikembe Dixson’s three-pointer with 5:04 left brought Illinois-Chicago within 63-62, Stull fueled an 8-0 run — sinking three free throws and a jumper — to push the lead to 71-62.
The Flames made eight straight free throws, but the Panthers got another huge three-pointer from Stull and a jumper from Bell to build a 76-70 advantage. “Sometimes the ball just goes in,” Stull said. “We know that it’s win-or-gohome and we definitely don’t want to go home. I think it’s that little extra motivation and boost that you get at this time of the year.”
Bell scored 12 points and Bryce Nze finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Panthers also took advantage of 16 turnovers by the Flames, turning the mistakes into 25 points.
Illinois-Chicago was led by Tarkus Ferguson with 23 points. Marcus Ottey scored 14 points, Dixson had 13 and Jordan Blount 10. Illinois-Chicago (17-15) ended the season with a three-game losing streak.
The Panthers (16-16) move on to play second-seeded Wright State in a semifinal game at 8:30 p.m. Monday.