Panthers unselfish in league opener
Bart Lundy’s first taste of UW-Milwaukee’s in-state rivalry with Horizon League opponent UW-Green Bay was awfully sweet.
The Panthers had five players finish with double-digit points and shot 54.5% en route to a convincing 81-67 victory over the Phoenix in the teams’ conference lid-lifter at the Resch Center on Thursday night.
Ahmad Rand led the way with 13 points, Markeith Browning II and Jalen Johnson scored 12, Justin Thomas 11 and Keon Edwards had 10 as UWM (6-3) won its fourth game in a six-day span.
UWGB, meanwhile, fell to 0-7 in dropping its fifth straight game to the Panthers.
Eleven players scored for UWM, which opened a double-digit lead by halftime, shot 50% or better from the field for the third time in four games and set a new season high by hitting 15 of 17 free throws (88.2%).
Runs of 12-0 and 11-1 midway through the second half helped put the game away.
The Panthers also did a better job of taking care of the basketball by committing 13 turnovers for the second time in three games.
“Good win,” Lundy said. “Anytime you can get a road win, it’s a good win. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of guys. We came out a little sluggish and a lot of guys came off the bench and gave us a good spark – Jalen Johnson, Keon Edwards, Moses (Bol) was really good.
“Then Ahmad Rand was an absolute monster in the second half.”
UWM will seek to make it five straight victories and a 2-0 start in the Horizon League when it hosts IUPUI at 7 p.m. Saturday at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Coming into the season, Lundy was high on the impact Rand, a 6-foot-8 senior transfer from Oregon State, could make. After nine games, Rand is proving his coach correct – and then some.
The senior forward played only 15 minutes against UWGB but still managed to lead the Panthers in scoring, rebounding (six) and blocked shots (four).
Rand hit 6 of 8 shots – including three more highlight-reel dunks – to up his field-goal percentage to 74%.
He also ranks third in rebounding at 3.9 and is blocking 2.2 shots despite averaging just 15 minutes per game.
“He’s doing it on both ends but really, his biggest impact is defensively,” Lundy said.
“I’m trying to get them more minutes as I figure out the rotation. I’ve got to play Jalen and Moses and Ahmad, two of them together at times. Ahmad needs more than 15 minutes, that’s for sure.”
UWM women make it a sweep
Megan Walstad scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Emma Wittmershaus added 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to lead UWM’s women’s team to a big 5952 conference-opening victory over UW-Green Bay at the Klotsche Center.
It marks the fifth time in the last seven meetings between the two teams that the Panthers (3-4) have been able to prevail over the longtime Horizon League power in the Phoenix (3-3).