Well, it could have been much worse. Your Milwaukee Panthers were ice cold in the first half of this game in which they were favored by 11 points. The team had a freezing draught of a first half and went into halftime with only a 1 point advantage.
We looked out of sorts into the second half, missing layups, not passing the ball or setting screens. As soon as we start playing the other team 1-on-1 we lose all momentum.
At around the 10 minute mark in the second frame, we started feeding Jalen Johnson in the post and he was eating it up. Post up after post up, IUPUI's guard-heavy lineup had no answer.
At the end of the contest, the Jaguars trailed the Panthers by two, 69-71. BJ Freeman (10pts, 7reb, 3ast) was harassed into missing a close shot in the paint that would have been the dagger. But following an IUPUI rebound on the other end of the floor, a Panther- like in so many other end game scenarios- blocked the Jag's almost-final shot.
This led to a foul against IUPUI and two makes that put Milwaukee up three points- and up for good as the Jaguars bricked a last second final-final shot to tie as time expired.
These Milwaukee Panthers certainly figure out a way to make a seemingly lopsided contest interesting. Let's hope we crush any future opponents we have played down to in this season (St. Thomas, RMU, etc.)- opponents in the Big Dance- should we get there- is not as forgiving as a second half in the Horizon League is.
We won and a win is a win. Survive and advance (which we will have to do in the HLT and beyond to extend the season as far into March (and April) as possible.
In defeating the winless Jaguars (0-13 in conference), Milwaukee (16-7, 10-3) tallied its 10th conference victory of the season which places them, at least momentarily before tonight's games, atop the 1st place pack in the Horizon League.
A win is a win, but IUPUI came dangerously close to ending their winless streak against us
Like the team BJ Freeman had an uncharacteristic game and played limited minutes due to foul trouble. It was a great relief to see KP (injured his leg last game) back in action so soon; he had an amazing spinning, over the shoulder layup that kind of revved up the Panthers' second half surge.
An anecdote from the game best summarizes this team and our performance: Kentrell Pullian (12pts, 5reb) went up for a lay-in and missed- then grabbed his own rebound- missed again- but then Justin Thomas saved the ball from going out of bounds, an IUPUI player deflected the ball to the Panthers and with a quick pass back to KP (now on the corner perimeter)- led to a huge 3-pointer that finally silenced IUPUI's efforts to get this back to a close game.
Through the inevitable stretches of in-game chaos, this team almost always has the upper hand.
So the #LundyMagic continues as Milwaukee wins again. Folks, you've literally no excuse to stay home next week Monday night. The homecoming after a long, successful road trip should be a welcoming one. I won't get my hopes too high but I think 2,500 is the minimum, could draw 3k+.
See you at the Arena.
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