UW-Milwaukee loses its handle, as Drake wins comfortably

In front of nearly 1,400 spectators at Panther Arena, the Drake Bulldogs embarrassed UW-Milwaukee – who returned to the States after playing a tournament in Belfast, Ireland last week – on its home court 75-61, on Thurs., Dec. 6.

Meanwhile, the Panthers (2-7), who jumped out to an eight-point lead early in the game’s opening minutes, squandered hope after poor decision-making and reliance on “hero” ball.

“I think the bottom line is we gave up some open threes toward the middle part of the first half that kind of opened them up and gave them some confidence,” said coach Pat Baldwin, who took the opportunity, once the game slipped away, to find minutes for players deep on his bench. “That started their run that did us in, and we just couldn’t recover after that.”

Drake came out launching five three-pointers in the game’s first five minutes. The philosophy spoiled the Panthers, who kicked off the game with an eight-point lead, by way of a 23-8 Bulldogs’ run, before the teams hit the locker rooms at half. The first-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, Drake led by as many as 24, before the Panthers improved their shooting percentage from the floor, taking the ball downhill.

“Certainly, without a question, this is a disappointing loss, because we were ready for this game,” said Baldwin. “It does take some time for guys to get used to each other, but, at the same time, we have guys that care so much about wanting to get us out of the depths — or, when we’re struggling, they want to try to make the play to help us.”

Careless basketball was symptomatic of this game, as both squads, who combined for 29 turnovers, were guilty of dribbling with butterfingers and lacking communication.

“Sometimes, when you think like that, it can be something that’s a negative against you, because you want it so bad, you give blinders to everybody else, out there, on the floor,” said Baldwin, who outlined both slow ball movement and fierce Drake double teams that lead to turnovers.

DeAndre Abram hit two triples to put the Panthers out ahead early. Though, more often than not, in the first half, many of Milwaukee’s threes hit front iron. Elsewhere on the floor, bleeding efficiency, the six-foot-eight guard accounted for over half of the Panthers’ free throws, going 9-for-11 and making all of his second-half attempts.

Panthers guard Darius Roy poured in a game-high 19 points, in only 26 minutes. Vance Johnson was two rebounds shy of a double-double, as he finished with 12 points.

With a hair under 12 minutes to go in the game, the Panthers started implementing their full court press, which was abandoned rather quickly. The Panthers cut the deficit to 15, mid-way through the second half, but with Drake’s deterministic nature to earn consistent trips to the charity stripe and force turnovers, the game plateaued.

Seven-footer Liam Robbins feasted down low, accumulating 12 boards, on top of nine points for the Bulldogs, off the pine. Milwaukee was doubly outscored in the paint, 26-12.

Shooting disparities at the line could not shift the outcome of the game, even though Milwaukee showed a prowess to get to the line — their 24 visits were capped off over 87 percent of the time. Though the Bulldogs made only 62 percent of their freebies, bench scoring and a litany of open looks (due to swift ball movement) put the game out-of-hand.

The Bulldogs (6-1) have continued to handle their non-conference schedule with ease, as they prepare for a Dec. 15 bout with Iowa State.

Stoughton native Nick McGlynn led the Bulldogs in scoring, with most of his 15 points coming inside the paint.

Five-foot-10 guard Nick Norton splashed four triples just in the first half, matching UW-Milwaukee’s team total. Milwaukee was sluggish on its rotations out on the perimeter, while Drake was forceful, both inside and out.

The loss put the Panthers at the bottom of the Horizon League, one full game behind Youngstown State. On Dec. 29, Green Bay rolls into Milwaukee to begin conference play, where the Panthers will look to improve upon 2017-18’s 8-10 Horizon League record.