Seven Items to Know Heading Into 2021-2022 UWM Men’s Basketball Season

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After playing a shortened schedule in 2020-2021 with no fans in attendance for any games, UW-Milwaukee Panthers men’s basketball begins the regular season on Nov. 9 against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks and takes on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Nov. 13 to begin their home schedule.  

Here are seven items to know heading into this Milwaukee Panthers basketball season: 

  1. Fans and Games are Returning to UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena  

For the first time since Feb. 29, 2020, the Milwaukee Panthers will play a home game at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena when they play host to Eastern Kentucky Colonels on November 13 for homecoming. UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena is set to host at least 16 different Panthers games in the regular season, and there will be fans at all 16 games after last year’s shortened-season saw no fans in attendance. 

For both vaccinated and unvaccinated Panthers fans, masks are a requirement. Proof of vaccination is not a requirement. UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, like most entertainment venues in the Milwaukee area, is also shifting towards only accepting credit cards instead of cash. 

  1. Matchups With Colorado, Florida Highlight Non-Conference Schedule  

The Panthers will travel to Gainesville, Fla. on Nov. 18 to play the Florida Gators and then travel to Boulder, Colo. on Dec. 10 to square off with the Colorado Buffaloes, the two most notable non-conference matchups on the Panthers schedule in 2021-2022. 

UWM’s Florida matchup will be a regular season first, but the two teams do have a prior history. Florida and UWM last played on March 18, 2006, in the Round of 32 in the 2006 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Championship. The Panthers fell to Florida 82-60, and Florida eventually went on to become National Champions. 

In their first matchup with Colorado since 2001, the Panthers will also be looking for their first win in school history against the Buffaloes. UWM is 0-2 all-time against Colorado but swished home 17 threes in the previous matchup, the second-most threes in a single-game in school history. 

“When we go and play Florida, when we go and play Colorado, both of those games are going to test our will and test our toughness,” Panthers Head Coach Patrick Baldwin said at Panthers Media Day. 

  1. The Horizon League’s Highest Recruit Ever Among Nine 2020-2021 Newcomers  

New to the team this season is Patrick Baldwin Jr., the fifth-best prospect in the Class of 2021, according to ESPN. Baldwin Jr. now owns the designation of being the highest-ranked high school player to ever sign with a Horizon League program, surpassing Ray McCallum Jr., who played for Detroit Mercy from 2010-2013. 

  1. Two Panthers Named to Preseason All-League Teams 

Baldwin Jr. is one of five Horizon League players named to the Preseason All-League First Team, and joining Baldwin Jr. from UWM on these preseason teams is teammate junior guard DeAndre Gholston, who appears on the Preseason All-League Second Team. 

If Baldwin Jr. and Gholston, or any combination of UWM players end up making an All-League Team at season’s end, it will be the first time since the 2014-2015 season that the university has at least two players on an All-League Team, as UWM alums Matt Tiby and Steve McWhorter were the last ones to do so. 

  1. Gholston Looks to Build on First Panthers Season 

In 2020-2021, Gholston played his first season with the Panthers after a year at Tallahassee Community College. In 22 games, Gholston averaged 16.8 points per game and scored 369 total points to lead the Panthers. Gholston started all 22 games last year for Coach Baldwin and will once again be a fixture in the starting lineup in 2021-2022. 

Gholston’s 16.8 scoring average ranked 5th in the Horizon League, and Gholston had a standout performance in last year’s Horizon League Tournament. Against Wright State, Gholston scored 31 points on 9-19 shooting, tying the school record for the most points scored in a single tournament game. The 94 points scored by the Panthers in the Wright State tournament game also tied for the most points scored by a Panthers team in a tournament game. 

“I worked on trying to be a better player overall,” Gholston said about his off-season routine during Panthers Media Day. “Better passer, better finisher, just making my reads better, things like that.” 

  1. The 2020-2021 Season Saw UWM’s Highest Single-Game Scoring Performance in Five Years by a Player  

Junior Tafari Simms figures to have a key role once again for the Panthers in 2021-2022, as he is coming off a strong 2020-2021 season where he averaged 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. 

Perhaps the best single-game performance of Simms’ 2020-2021 season is scoring 32 points on 10-13 shooting and grabbing six rebounds in a 94-70 Panthers win over IUPUI. That 32-point performance marked the highest scoring total by a Panther student athlete since Akeem Springs scored 33 points in an 81-65 win over Youngstown State. 

  1. 24, 22 and 22 in Three Straight Games for Josh Thomas  

As Senior Guard Josh Thomas enters the 2020-2021 season 10 points away from 600 in his UWM career, it is worth reflecting on a scoring stretch in 2020-2021 that helped him inch closer to that mark. 

Thomas scored a regular season-high 24 points against Wright State on Feb. 13 and followed up that performance with 22 points each in back-to-back games against Oakland on Feb. 19 and Feb 20. This marked the first time a UWM player had scored 20 or more points in three straight games since Ricky Franklin in 2010. 

The Milwaukee Panthers Men’s Basketball full schedule can be found here.