UW-Milwaukee just can’t seem to gain any traction in Horizon League play.
Installed as 7.5-point favorites entering their Sunday afternoon matchup with Robert Morris, the Panthers instead stumbled and dropped a highly disappointing 81-79 decision at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Alarming carelessness with the basketball resulted in 19 turnovers – their most since giving the ball away 22 times on Dec. 15. The Colonials cashed those giveaways in for 30 points while also hanging close on the glass, nullifying what has typically been the Panthers’ biggest advantage over most teams they’ve faced.
UWM (13-7, 6-3) did make a couple second-half charges but never was able to regain the lead and as a result had its 12-game home winning streak dating to last season snapped.
BOX SCORE: Robert Morris 81, UWM 79
“Give Robert Morris a ton of credit – they were the tougher, more physical, more prepared, better-coached team today,” said Panthers coach Bart Lundy, whose team lost despite a 50.9% shooting day and a career-high 26 points from Jamichael Stillwell. “They’ve got multiple weapons that present a real challenge. I didn’t think that we had our usual edge.
“Now, if you’re going to have a chance to win the league, you’ve got to make up a home loss with a road win, and in this league, that doesn’t happen a lot. But, congrats to Robert Morris. They deserved to win today. They were the better team.”
UWM trailed, 43-36, at intermission after Robert Morris (13-7, 5-4) knocked down 7 of 15 three-pointers and 6 of 7 free throws. The Panthers, meanwhile, hit only 2 of 8 from beyond the arc and 2 of 3 free throws.
Then, after hitting two of their first three shots out of the locker room, they committed turnovers on six consecutive possessions in falling behind, 55-41, with 15 minutes 19 seconds remaining in the game.
“I really got after them at halftime,” said Lundy. “They were revved up defensively, and we were playing pretty good defensively, but we were taking that revved-up, kind of sped-up mentality and it bled to our offense, and we were just doing things out of character and a little fast.”
Not long thereafter UWM found its footing and used a lightning-quick, 9-0 run to pull to within 57-55, helped by a technical foul on Colonials coach Andy Toole and punctuated by a John Lovelace Jr. dunk.
Robert Morris opened its advantage back up to 69-58 before UWM again came roaring back. This time, the Panthers used a 13-3 run capped by a three-point play by Stillwell to make it a 72-71 game with 2:36 left.
UWM then had a chance to take the lead for the first time since early in the first half after forcing a turnover on the other end, but Stillwell was called for a travel on the perimeter. Robert Morris answered with a three-point play on the other end, quickly halting the Panthers’ growing momentum.
“We ran a play where Jamichael is in that corner, and he’s not really part of that action,” explained Lundy. “Themus (Fulks) had a clear lane to the to the rim, and then he stepped on the outside defender’s foot and kind of tripped a little bit, and that’s when he threw it. Otherwise, he just has a clean layup.
“If he lays that ball in, it changes the momentum. We’ve got to stop shot-faking and jabbing, and we’ve just got to catch it and shoot the ball because we’re a good offensive rebounding team. I’d rather turn it over at the rim than give them the ball (with a turnover on the perimeter).”
Twice more UWM had chances to either tie or go up in the waning seconds but failed.
The first came when a Panthers trap forced a double dribble in the backcourt, giving UWM the ball back with 12.1 seconds left. With his team trailing, 80-77, Erik Pratt passed up a contested three in the corner and instead drove to the basket and scored.
Robert Morris split a pair of free throws on the other end after being fouled, leaving the door ajar one last time for UWM.
This time, Fulks got the ball on the inbounds with 6.2 seconds remaining and drove the length of the court. He made it into the lane, but after turning his back and attempting to spin his way to the basket had his shot spiked out of bounds as time expired.
“We got Themus 1-on-1 with their (center), and he blocked it from behind,” Lundy said. “He made a great defensive play. I don’t know if there was a dump-off somewhere but honestly, when he spun, I thought, ‘He’s going to score,’ and then the kid made a great play.”
An officials’ review put 0.6 seconds back on the clock but it ultimately didn’t matter as UWM inbounded the ball only to have AJ McKee make the catch, come down with the ball and then try to force a shot up – impossible with less than a second left.
While Stillwell’s seven rebounds were a season low, he nevertheless set the tone for the Panthers by hitting 10 of 16 shots – including 2 of 3 threes – in 34 minutes before fouling out while playing with a fractured finger.
UWM did win the rebounding battle overall, 35-30, but the Panthers’ other big man, Faizon Fields, was basically a non-factor with only five boards in 22 minutes after getting into early foul trouble.
“I thought his performance was wasted today because we didn’t follow his his edge,” said Lundy of Stillwell. “I told them at halftime it looked like Jamichael is down there rebounding, and it’s one of our jerseys and four of their jerseys. We’ve got to be able to help him.
“He’s a great rebounder. We’ve got guys that are good rebounders outside of Jamichael, but we just didn’t have our edge today, and we don’t make enough shots not to have edge.”
Fulks and Pratt finished with 13 points and Kentrell Pullian 12 for the Panthers, who play their next two at Wright State and Northern Kentucky.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UWM has 12-game home winning streak snapped by Robert Morris
