Clay Tucker Back In Europe

Clay Tucker has officially singed with Hacettepe University in Turkey.

Tucker was with Valencia Basket in Spain earlier this year before returning to the U.S.

The move further extends a long and successful career for Tucker in Europe. The 2003 Horizon League Tournament MVP and UWM’s all-time leading scorer played last season for Lottomatica Roma in the Italian SerieA, averaging 15.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. That came after Tucker played for Real Madrid in Spain in 2010-11. There, he averaged 8.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in 40 regular season outings, helped his team to the league final. Tucker also played 23 games in Euroleague, averaging nearly nine points per game and helping Real Madrid into the semifinals.

Tucker has played also professionally in France (Le Mans), Greece, Poland, Russia (Khimky), Sweden, Ukraine (BC Kyiv), Spain (FIATC Joventut and Cajasol), Italy (BancaTercas) and in the D-League (Arkansas RR).

He remains highly respected in Europe, according to the latest EuroBasket scouting report.

“An athletic guard who can shoot from the perimeter and score on penetration. Passes the ball very well, defends exceptionally well on the passing lines. Has now matured to a team leader, wants the ball in clutch moments of the game and is a good rebounder for his size. Ready for top European teams.”

Postgame Report - Detroit and Wright State

The Panthers dropped their first two league road games of the season this past weekend but actually showed some positive signs in the contests. Milwaukee led by as many as six points against Detroit before being overwhelmed by a 21-4 run in the second half. Saturday in Dayton, the Panthers led most of the way before a late Wright State surge allowed the Raiders to pull out the win.

Player Of The Game(s): Two different guys share the honors for the weekend. Paris Gulley was the star of Thursday night, knocking in six 3-pointers on his way to 22 points. Then Saturday it was Demetrius Harris playing perhaps his best game as a Panther. He tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and three steals and was extremely active on both ends of the floor.

Turning Point: Thursday night, the Panthers had a 37-36 lead and were still tied 40-all before scoring only four points in the next eight-plus minutes. Then Saturday, the Panthers had a number of opportunities to extend their advantage late in the second half but a combination of some missed free throws and untimely turnovers kept Milwaukee from building more of a cushion.

News and Notes: Demetrius Harris tallied his second double-double of the season Saturday with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Panthers now have six double-doubles this year … Paris Gulley has now had 20 or more points four times … UWM used just seven players Thursday night, its smallest rotation of the season. And, Milwaukee played at least eight guys in every game a season ago. Twelve players have played at least 10 of the 16 games this year … UWM held Wright State to just 41.5 percent shooting from the field, the lowest for an opponent since Northern Illinois shot 39.7 percent in early December … the Panthers saw a five-game winning streak in league openers snapped in the loss to Detroit but is still 10-3 in its last 13 openers … the Panthers had 16 offensive rebounds Thursday night and have had 16 or more in three of their last five games. UWM added 10 offensive rebounds Saturday and has been in double figures in offensive rebounds in 11 of the first 16 games of the season … Milwaukee has now lost eight-straight times in Dayton … the Panthers are now 0-8 in true road games and 0-10 in contests outside of Milwaukee this season.

Up Next: UWM gets a full week of before hosting Valparaiso Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

Postgame Notes - Milwaukee @ Wisconsin

Player Of The Game: J.J. Panoske posted the finest effort of his young career Saturday. The redshirt freshman, who had played just 53 minutes entering the game, played 27 minutes. He scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds, had three blocks and added two steals.

Turning Point: Milwaukee held an early 10-8 lead as Paris Gulley started strong offensively. But the Badgers answered that surge with a 14-0 run and never really looked back.

Key Numbers: The first half shooting was the difference, as Wisconsin hit on 51.9 percent from the floor while Milwaukee converted on just 30.4 percent of its attempts.

News and Notes: Milwaukee has lost four straight and nine of its last 10 … Paris Gulley has now reached double figures in five of seven games since his return from injury … with J.J. Panoske reaching double figures in the loss at Madison, the Panthers have now had nine players post at least one double figure outing this season … Milwaukee’s 44.0 percent shooting clip was its best of the season and broke a string of five-straight games below 40 percent … after making 34 three-pointers in the first three games of the season the Panthers have made 51 in their last 10 outings.

Up Next: UWM wraps up 2012 with a Saturday afternoon home game against Ohio Dominican.

Green Bay Notebook

The Panthers pulled out a five-set win over Green Bay Friday night in their lone action of the weekend. The victory actually pushed UWM into a multi-team tie for first place in the Horizon League. In fact, just a year after the Panthers ran through the league unbeaten, every school has at least one loss just three matches into the year.

Here are the news and notes from the win over Green Bay.

Last Week’s Results
9/28 – def. Green Bay, 3-2

This Week Matches
10/5 - @ Loyola; 10/6 - @ UIC

Player of the Week
Julie Kolinske, So., OH, Big Bend, Wis. It continues to be hard to pick anyone besides Kolinske for this honor. Against Green Bay, the sophomore tied her collegiate-high with 22 kills and hit .360 in the five-set win. She also added six digs and three blocks. She is now averaging better than four kills per set and is averaging 4.5 kills per set in league matches. She also adds better than three digs per set.

News and Notes
UWM win Friday marked its 27th in its last 28 Horizon League regular season matches … the Panthers also beat Green Bay for the ninth-straight time … Anna Bartz collected 26 digs and now has 836 in her career … Hannah Blanchard tallied a collegiate-best 55 assists … Amber Simonton made her first collegiate start and had six blocks … UWM collected 12 blocks as a team … this was Milwaukee first five-set win of the season after losing its first four 5-set contests … the win turned the tables on a Green Bay team that entered Friday having won five of six 5-set matches.