By the numbers

A few notes + quotes from UWM’s drubbing of Butler Monday night…

*Milwaukee ended Butler’s league-record 22-game winning streak Monday night. The last Horizon League loss for Butler – Feb. 18, 2009 at Milwaukee.

*UWM shot better than 50 percent from the floor for the third time this season. The first two being a three-point loss to Marquette and a 12-point win over South Dakota State.

*In the last two games, the Panthers have hit 27 shots from behind the arc, easily their best back-to-back performances shooting-wise all season.

*Kaylon Williams’ triple-double was the first for UWM since Marc Mitchell did so back on Feb. 1, 1993 against UMKC.

*Anthony Hill, who fell in a heap midway through the second half, returned later in the game and said his ankle hurt but that he would be fine for the next game.

*This was the worst loss (24 points) for Butler since Jan. 29, 2005 when they lost to UIC, 73-49, a span of 198 games.

UWM head coach Rob Jeter

On snapping Butler’s streak of 22-straight HL wins.
“First of all, you give a lot of respect to Butler. They are the class of the league, there’s no doubt about it. The way they handle themselves, how they go about their business and the way they represent the league…I’m just proud of our guys.

“We just talked about doing the ordinary and maybe something extraordinary can happen. That’s what Butler does. They do the ordinary very well and enable to experience extraordinary things and that’s what I told our guys.”

On establishing the inside position early
“We tried to play the game simply, inside and out. We tried to just be simple and keep simple actions by going inside, which allowed us to be…because they did a heck of a job rotating. They switched and they rotate and they get backside help – they played pretty sound defensively but sometimes you can catch them on a switch or a scramble and you just have to trust you can make the shot if you have that look.”

Kaylon Williams

On getting a triple-double in a game this big
“It’s just a bonus. Coming out, you’re trying to win the game. It’s a team game. We got a great win but it’s like icing on top of a cake – you take it. It’s an honor…all the players who have come before me and for me to be the first (since 1993), it’s a great achievement.”

“Did you know during the game?
“No. No, I had no clue. You’re in a game against Butler, no matter what – you’re up 18 points – you still know a team like that can come back. I had no clue. I’m just doing what coach asked me to do – lead the team, get stops and it happened.”

Anthony Hill

On the injured ankle
“It’s fine. I’ll probably have to do a little bit of rehab but I’ll be OK.

“Matt Howard’s a big guy and he fell on my ankle but that wasn’t going to stop me from going back in and playing. I don’t care if it’s broke, I was going to go back in there and help the team win. It’s a big win and we’re just about to enjoy the win and move on to the next one.”

Home sweet home

The UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team finally made it home after their 3,000+ mile road trip and knocked off last year’s NCAA Tournament darling Northern Iowa 65-63.

Milwaukee led for a majority of the game but UNI came back late to tie the game with 16 seconds left on the clock. UWM handed the ball to their purest shooter in Tone Boyle and the senior didn’t disappoint as he drilled a mid-range jumped with 2.4 left.

The win moves Milwaukee to 2-2 on the season.

Senior Anthony Hill led all scorers with 17 points in 31 minutes of action.

The Panthers continue their 5-game home stand this Tuesday when they play their first game on campus since February of 2004 by hosting Western Michigan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

So far so good

The UW-Milwaukee men’s + women’s basketball teams each tipped-off their seasons last week. The men’s teams traveled out to Portland as part of a the Athletes In Action Tournament while the women played host to national powerhouse Oklahoma.

Neither team fared the best in that opening weekend (the women lost by 17 despite keeping the game close until late while the men finished 1-2), but both had significant improvements earlier this week.

The women’s team headed 90 miles south to take on Chicago State and won 82-69. Most notably from that game, freshman Courtney Lindfors scored 35 points in 33 minutes of action. The Elk Grove, Ill. native also added 13 rebounds in the trip back to her home state.

Here’s what head coach Sandy Botham had to say after the game:

The men’s team, despite traveling a whopping 5,070 miles in four days time, out-hustled Niagara and ran them out of their own building with a 90-73 victory.

Tone Boyle led the charge with a career-high 27 points on 8 of 15 shooting including 5 of 8 from behind the arc.

Tony Meier, Anthony Hill and Ryan Allen also scored in double figures for the Panthers.

Here’s what Boyle and head coach Rob Jeter had to say about the game and the long road trip:

Blown away

By Jeremy Lubus
Asst. Sports Editor

On a windy, brisk night the Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s soccer team fell early and could not find the back of the net in the second half as they fell to their neighbors to the south at home, 5-1, against Northern Illinois Thursday night.

Just three minutes in the Panthers (6-9-2) fell behind when Huskies’ Juan Hoyos chipped in the game’s first goal over Milwaukee keeper John Shakon.

The Panthers rallied in the 20th minute behind sophomore Cody Banks strike from 25-yards out to tie the game at one-a-piece.

However, the Huskies came roaring back after drawing one of the 15 Milwaukee fouls. Engebreth Faerden took full advantage and scored on a free kick.

“We conceded four goals on set pieces, which was really disappointing because we knew that was one of NIU’s strengths,” said UWM head coach Chris Whalley. “We scouted them, we saw it, but we didn’t deal with it well. I was really disappointed with the way we defended on set pieces. I thought in the context of the game, we played better, but the scoreboard shows they were the better team on the night.”

NIU then turned a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 lead after Faerden drilled another free kick followed by a goal by Finn Jor 10-minutes later. The Huskies (9-6-2) fifth goal was an own goal.

“We have to be switched on, be focused and be ready to work hard on Saturday,” said Whalley. “The nice thing is, we have a chance to make it right real quickly. The reason why I scheduled these two games late in the year is because I wanted to let the guys know we have to play mistake-free at this time of the season. If you make mistakes in games you are going to get punished like this evening.”

Rallying the troops

Seemingly every sports team was on hand in some form or another (save for the ones that already hit the road for games this weekend) in the Union Concourse earlier today.

Some of the highlights were the pep band playing, the winners of the week-long spirit contest announced, and free T-shirts and other swag thrown out to the crowd of students by coaches and players.

Both basketball head coaches gave speeches to the crowd encouraging everyone to come to games throughout the season. Here’s men’s head coach Rob Jeter’s address…with a guest appearance by Pounce:

http://player.vimeo.com/video/16507688

Union Pep Rally from The UWM Post on Vimeo.

Exhibiting a thing of beauty

The Milwaukee Panthers made quick work of their Eastside neighbor Milwaukee School of Engineering Monday night 83-37 at the Klotsche Center.

It was the first time the Panthers played an exhibition game on campus since the 2003-2004 season. The team will play Western Michigan later this month at the Klotsche Center.

“It was fun coming to campus and getting a workout in,” said Panthers head coach Rob Jeter. “It really felt like being at home because we had some of the things we have every day.”

All 15 players that dressed saw action and were led by redshirt senior Tone Boyle who had 12 points. Boyle missed all of last season with a back injury but says he is nearly 100-percent.

Despite playing just 10 minutes, freshman Evan Richard drilled a trio of three pointers on his way to finishing with 12 points as well.

The play of the day is when a pair of transfers, Kaylon Williams and Ryan Allen, connected on an alley-hoop dunk right in front of the students. Ryan brings an above the rim atmosphere the Panthers lacked last season.

Senior Mitchell Carter who sat out all of last season because of NCAA transfer rules played the game with a heavily taped right hand. Coach Jeter confirmed it will only be on the 7-footer for a week or so and likes his presence in the paint.

Anthony Hill finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

A few game highlights courtesy of UWM Athletics.

Spook-tacular

In the spirit of Halloween, the UW-Milwaukee men’s soccer team is having a little fun with tonight’s game.

The Panthers welcome Wright State to Engelmann at 7 p.m. tonight but also welcome anyone who is dressed in their costume with a little incentive attached.

The team is holding a competition where for the best costume with the winner taking home $200.

“It’s a really big game for us and we want as much support at Engelmann as possible,” Milwaukee head coach Chris Whalley said in a statement. “We thank everyone for coming out so far and look forward to a big crowd Saturday. We wanted to get into the spirit of the season and tie it into coming to the game, so everyone has a great experience watching UWM soccer.”

The game also happens to be pretty big for the Panthers, who are currently in 6th place in the league and fighting for the final spot in the conference tournament.

The see the full list of prizes being offered, click here.

Top of the class

Women’s soccer league awards were handed out today and in the least surprising news of the year, UWM is good at soccer.

Junior Sarah Hagen won the Horizon League Player of the Year for the second straight season while senior Nicole Sperl grabbed the Defensive POTY.

Hagen hasn’t posted the jaw-dropping stats of her first two years, but 15 goals in 18 games is still pretty amazing. It’s also seven goals more than second best.

While Hagen’s been leading the attack, Sperl has been an anchor on defense.

The Tosa West grad has somehow managed to be an offensive threat (one goal, five assists) while still being the vocal leader on the back line.

For a more in depth look at what Sperl has meant to the UWM program, pick up a copy of the Post on Monday.

Locker room talk

Ok, so this site is dedicated primarily to UWM sports and everything that goes along with them. But today we’re branching out to a bit. While it’s not Milwaukee related, it is college basketball, which is just around the corner.

The Oklahoma State men’s basketball team just upgrade their locker room in a big GINORMOUS way. Here’s a photo from the recently redone digs inside the Gallagher-Iba Arena:

WOW!

I’d be happy to call this place normally designated for sweaty dudes to shower + throw their dirty laundry my home.

A few guys from the team made a video to take you on a tour through the whole place. It’s a little long but the highlights include: marble floors, pool tables, endless flat-screen TVs, leather recliners, hot tubs…the list goes on.

For more photos of the locker room that looks like it’s straight up from an MTV Cribs episode, click here.

Technology rocks

The men’s basketball team came out with this nifty little video the other day. Check it out and use the comment section to say what you thought about it.