Panthers scuffle but still keep Titans winless
The UW-Milwaukee Panthers avoided the trap.
With their superior manpower helping them overcome a disjointed first half, the Panthers used a balanced scoring effort and a dominating performance on the glass to beat hapless Detroit Mercy, 84-61, on Saturday afternoon at Calihan Hall in Detroit.
While UWM improved to 8-8 overall and 3-2 in the Horizon League, Detroit fell to 0-17 and 0-5 and remained as one of only two winless programs in Division I (Mississippi Valley State entered the day 0-13).
Erik Pratt continued his strong play by knocking down 6 of 10 three-pointers and finishing with a game-high 20 points in 27 minutes.
BJ Freeman added 15 points and nine rebounds, just missing an ignominious triple-double as he also committed a school record 11 turnovers. Kentrell Pullian also had 15 points and eight rebounds, Faizon Fields 12 points and Langston Wilson 11 points and eight rebounds.
As a team, the Panthers hauled down 53 boards — their third effort of 50 or more on the season — including 19 on the offensive end. They also hit 24 of 28 free throws.
A disjointed first half got off to a fitting start when Pratt knocked down UWM's first shot of the game — a threepointer from the top of the key — with only one shoe on after losing the other on the opposite end of the court.
Detroit, undermanned but undeterred, slopped the game up from there to the point Freeman had turned the ball over seven times while hitting only one of his first eight shots.
Even still, the Panthers maintained the lead for most of the first half and then used a 16-4 run sparked by six points apiece from Freeman and Fields to push their advantage into double digits at 31-20 with 3 minutes 6 seconds remaining.
The Titans hit a couple threes the rest of the way to whittle the deficit to single digits by halftime.
Pratt hit all four of UWM's threepointers and led all scorers with 14 points. The Panthers also grabbed 31 rebounds. On the downside, they committed as many turnovers as they converted baskets (11).
After regrouping at intermission, UWM quickly stretched its lead out thanks to threes from Langston Wilson, Pratt and Pullian. Then a conventional three-point play by Freeman made it 5132 with 15:53 left.
Things continued to work in the Panthers' favor when Titans leading scorer Marcus Tankersley left the court after suffering cramping in his left leg.
A steady dose of the 6-foot-10 Fields in the paint helped UWM open its largest lead of the day against undersized Detroit not long thereafter.
Tankersley eventually returned, but by then the game was well in hand and the only mystery was whether Freeman would be able to complete a triple-double of points, rebounds and turnovers.
While he padded his scoring with two baskets in the final 2:37, Freeman was unable to grab the final board he needed.
Marc Mitchell also committed 11 turnovers on Dec. 1, 1992, against Western Michigan.