Game #13 – Milwaukee 72, Bowling Green 69
Player of the Game - Kudos to Tone Boyle for finding his shooting touch and knocking in seven 3-pointers. But Tony Meier needs to be recognized again tonight. The junior scored 20 points and added five assists, but just as importantly provided an inside presence for the Panthers in the absence of Anthony Hill. Meier made four of his five field goals from inside the arc while also getting to the line 10 times. His 20 points equaled a collegiate-high. Meier also played basically all of the final 11 minutes with four fouls.
Turning Point A technical foul on a Bowling Green assistant coach with 13:27 remaining gave Milwaukee a four-point possession that cut an 11-point lead to seven. The Falcons actually got the lead back up to 11 shortly thereafter, but the stretch breathed some life into the Panthers. UWM wound up outscoring Bowling Green, 32-18 after the technical foul.
Stat That Mattered - The Panthers knew they would face a ton of zone defense from Bowling Green, making outside shooting and good ball-movement two keys. Milwaukee wound up making 10 three-pointers and had assists on 18 of 21 made field goals.
The Notebook - True freshman Kyle Kelm made his first collegiate start, scoring seven points while grabbing two rebounds in 22 minutes … Tone Boyle’s seven made three-pointers marked a collegiate high … the seven makes are the most by a Panther since Avery Smith made eight at Oakland in December of 2006 … Tony Meier’s 20 points tied a season and collegiate high he had set two weeks ago against Cleveland State … this was the first time this season the Panthers had two players score 20 or more points in the same game … Ryan Haggerty played a season-high 15 minutes … the Panthers won a game after trailing at halftime for the first time this season … Bowling Green had a huge 44-16 edge on points in the paint but converted on just six of their 15 free throw attempts.
Up Next - Milwaukee will get an extended break over the Christmas holiday before returning to action Dec. 30 at Wright State. That contest begins a stretch of three games in five days, including a New Year’s Day contest at Detroit and a Jan. 3 home game with Butler.
