Freeman pours in 43 points for Panthers
BJ Freeman picked the right time for the best collegiate game of his life.
With UW-Milwaukee playing in its first postseason game in nine years in the College Basketball Invitational, the sophomore guard exploded for a tournament-record 43 points to lead the 11th-seeded Panthers past sixth-seeded Stetson, 87-83, in overtime on Sunday night in Daytona Beach, Fla.
UWM moves on to face third-seeded Charlotte (19-14) at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
Freeman's 43 points were tied for the second-most in program history, tying him with Von McDade's 43-point effort against Southern Utah on Feb. 19, 1991. The record is 50 points, set by McDade in an overtime game at Illinois on Dec. 3, 1990.
Freeman hit 10 of 20 shots (including 3 of 9 three-pointers) against the Hatters, with his runner in the lane with 13.9 seconds remaining tying the score at 76-all and ultimately sending the game to overtime.
But where Freeman really put in the work was the free-throw line, where his 20 makes and 22 attempts both set new school records and -- much more important -- helped UWM win its first postseason game since 2006.
"It's just another accolade," Freeman said. "I don't really care about the points like that. I'm just glad I could help my team get the win and we're still in the postseason. I'm just happy. Big shouts out to my team, man, for always giving me the ball and just having the trust in me to execute."
Freeman said he scored 40 or more points several times in high school in North Carolina. But his performance against Stetson was next-level.
"He scored 43 on 20 shots," coach Bart Lundy said. "He kept getting downhill, kept getting fouled, making good decisions, finishing. And the crazy thing is, he started out 1 for 6.
"It really shows his growth because early in the year if he'd gone 1 for 6 on his first six shots, he was either chucking it or he was going to shut down. He just kept playing.
"Pretty proud of him."
That Freeman can put the ball in the basket was no secret coming in, considering he led the Panthers (22-10) with a 17.4 points-per game average. He'd also scored 20 or more points 13 times and twice hit the 30-point mark.
Stetson (17-14), a much bigger and more physical team than UWM, pounded the Panthers on the glass all night.
It held a 70-64 lead with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game before Freeman hit a pair of free throws and a three-pointer from the right wing to make it a one-point game.
UWM eventually tied it at 71-all on a Kentrell Pullian drive, then took a 74-73 lead on an Elijah Jamison three from deep in the left corner with 59.9 seconds left.
The Hatters answered with a three of their own with 46.2 seconds on the clock and had a chance to make it a twopossession game at the free-throw line after a Freeman three rimmed out.
But they missed the front end of the bonus and Freeman made them pay with his runner. Stetson had a good look at the basket but couldn't hit a driving layup.
"I yanked back and had tried to shoot a three and it went in and out," Freeman said when asked about his game-tying shot. "I looked at my teammates and their faces just went down. So I said if I get another chance I'm going to send it to overtime. It was a lot of pressure on me but I just knocked it down."
Pullian and Freeman scored on drives early in overtime but that was it from the field for the Panthers, who saw Freeman drain five of his final six free throws to eventually salt the game away.
Chad Angeli held the previous highwater marks for free throws, going 18 for 21 against Detroit and Cleveland State twice in a three-day span in late January 2000.
"To put that in context, I studied the last five games of our opponents and (Stetson's) leading scorer, (Jalen Blackmon) was 20 for 22 in his last five games," Lundy said. "That's pretty amazing."
Added Freeman: "It's just Coach Lundy and my team trusting in me. Just keep trying to execute the same thing until they stopped it."
Jamison and Ahmad Rand each added 12 points and Pullian 10 for UWM, which won despite shooting 38%, hitting only 7 threes and being outrebounded, 57-42.
The Panthers' last postseason victory prior to Sunday came in the 2006 NCAA Tournament when they upset Oklahoma in the first round before falling to eventual national champion Florida in the second.
"It's huge," Lundy said. "It's a huge building block for these young guys to see that we can come here against other conference and teams and get a win. "It's tournament experience." Added Freeman: "That's big-time. We just keep trying to make history here. But like Coach says, we'll enjoy the win tonight and then move on to the next."
UWM's matchup with Charlotte on Monday will be one of a somewhat personal nature for Lundy, who spent 14 years over two separate stints as coach at Queens University, a 20-minute drive from Charlotte's campus.
"They're a really good team, he's a good coach and a good friend of mine," Lundy said of the 49ers' Ron Sanchez. "It's going to be a tough one."