Legendary coach Bob Knight once stated, “If we can just get into position to get into position,” when discussing his team’s late-season prospects. Well, after completing a weekend home sweep, the Milwaukee Panthers have positioned themselves to make a run for the conference title and a path to Indianapolis.
The Milwaukee Panthers, 18-9 (11-5 in conference), started the weekend with a heart-stopping and stressful 88-80 overtime victory over Wright State. The Panthers returned Sunday and decided to lower the anxiety level of their fans by cruising to a comfortable 92-70 victory over Northern Kentucky. After Sunday, MKE is now in a three-way tie for second place in the Horizon and one game out of first. With the first-place Cleveland State losing again, the conference’s next few weeks just became a little more intriguing. So, not only is the Horizon’s “pennant race” heating up, but the weekend had several highlights and memorable moments.
- Milwaukee celebrated the 20th Anniversary of arguably the greatest team in program history. The 2004-05 team, coached by Bruce Pearl, was honored at halftime to commemorate their conference tourney title and appearance in the Sweet 16.
- Jamichael Stillwell set the single-season rebounding record with his 281st rebound on Sunday.
- The “Brew City Bench Mob” outscored the starters 49-42 on Sunday.
Milwaukee now has two huge games this weekend as they will play two teams tied with them for second place. Youngstown State is first on the docket, Friday night. The Panthers beat an undermanned Penguin squad 79-64 last month. The weekend finishes with possibly the hottest team in conference play, Robert Morris, on Sunday afternoon. Both games will go a long way in determining not only the Panther’s title hopes but also the ability to secure the coveted top 4 seed in the conference tournament next month. Coach Bart Lundy discussed the prognosis of next weekend’s road trip and the importance of Stillwell to the cause. “Three things for this team: Where’s Jamichael (Stillwell) at? He’s always good, but if he’s really turned up if we take care of the ball, and if we make some threes, we have a chance to not screw it up and win those road games.”
The Good
The Bench: The bench outscored the starters Sunday and provided clutch contributions in Friday night’s overtime win. On Sunday, Lundy commented, “I thought Aaron Franklin off the bench and DLo (Danilo Jovanovich) were fantastic, Johnny (Lovelace) was fantastic, just a lot of contributions, and then we wore them down.”.
Dominance in the Paint: Milwaukee scored 48 and 52 points in the paint last weekend. The Panthers decided to attack the rim and not settle for jump shots. But if a shot missed, Milwaukee cleaned up the boards by scoring 29 second-chance points against the Norse, and 19 against the Raiders, on Friday.
Charity Stripe: This is turning out to be a strength for the Panthers. Milwaukee shot over 75% from the line in both games, including clutch freebies in the overtime win, on Friday.
The Bad
Three-Point Shooting: Not really bad, but the Panthers will need to shoot better from deep on the road this weekend. Although 36% (Sunday) and 38% (Friday) aren’t awful, conference road 3’s are a higher value. On defense, Milwaukee will need to continue to run shooters off the 3-point line. Against Wright State, the defense allowed the Raiders to shoot 52% from deep, including 5-8 in the second half.
Players of the Week
Offensive – Themus Fulks. On Friday, Themus “Fulks Around and Finds Out” scored 21 points, (including 7-7 from the line), dished out 12 assists, and committed no turnovers.
Defensive – Jamichael Stillwell. Along with breaking the aforementioned single-season record, the nation’s 7th leading rebounder, added 15 points, 2 steals, and 8 rebounds on Friday. Sunday Stellwell added 18 points and 15 boards. Coach Lundy broke down his impact on the team adding, “When he is at his peak with his energy, we’re as a mid-major basketball team there is in the country”.
Bench: Aaron Franklin. Franklin appears to be finding his groove with increased minutes. Friday night, Franklin scored 11 points, 3 steals, and 4 rebounds in 28 impressive minutes. On Sunday, he added 6 points, 3 blocks and 5 rebounds.
Up Next
Friday 8 pm at Youngstown State. (There will be a scheduled watch party at Panther Legend Joah Tucker’s Dream Social Lounge located at 1806 N Doctor M.L.K. Jr Dr, Milwaukee, WI 53212).
Sunday 1 pm, at Robert Morris
