@Cleveland State 1/5/23

[FTA1982]

JT was the unsung hero tonight. That rebound/pass to BJ to tie, top of the key 3 to go down 1 and those 3 straight pressure free throws.

[FTA1982]

Jan 5, 2023 20:20:09 GMT -6 Pounce Needs Pals said:

I'm still shocked by no foul up by 3 after a CSU timeout. The look was wide open. Got lucky.

To me it seemed like CSU drew up a great play for a chance to tie. I'd have to watch it back but I thought what they drew up and executed limited the chance to foul.

[Duct_Tape_Pounce]

Jan 5, 2023 20:23:12 GMT -6 FTA1982 said:

Jan 5, 2023 20:20:09 GMT -6 Pounce Needs Pals said:

I'm still shocked by no foul up by 3 after a CSU timeout. The look was wide open. Got lucky.

To me it seemed like CSU drew up a great play for a chance to tie. I'd have to watch it back but I thought what they drew up and executed limited the chance to foul.

I agree with this. I want to say there were still about 7 seconds on the clock when he shot it. So even if the play wasn’t executed that well, it would have been on the precipice of being too early to foul.

[Pounce Needs Pals]

[nickpanther]

going into this season, I thought we;d be better- yes, I know, low bar and all that- but I didnt think we;d be at 10 wins before game 20. props to Coach Lundy and his staff.

[A Statement By SHAUN]

Very proud of this team, very tough

[Deleted]

A thriller in Cleveland www.milwaukeepanthertracks.com/2023/01/a-thriller-in-cleveland.html

[reginaldkdwight]

Team is gritty, they buy into what Lundy is selling. Need to find a way to punish zone defenses you will see more and more deployed against us as the year goes on if we cant score on it. Win on Saturday and maybe even Fran will be excited.

[SRT4driver]

Jan 5, 2023 20:13:54 GMT -6 Pounce Needs Pals said:

So, Lundy is a coach that doesn't foul up by three?

I was extremely disappointed to see that as well. That CSU 3-pt attempt to tie the game in the final seconds *nearly* went in! Meaning we were extremely fortunate and *LUCKY* to have won, when all we had to do was send them to the foul line while up 3 with seconds left. Terrible strategy - or lack of execution.

Hopefully next time Lundy finds himself in that position up 3 with seconds left, he has the team foul before they can get a great looking 3pt shot off!

[SRT4driver]

But other than that, I'm ecstatic with how great the team has been playing (outside of not showing up against Oakland), and also very happy with the coaching overall.

[kman24]

I went back and re-watched that final sequence and the CSU player starts his drive with about 9.3 seconds left and passes the ball for the open 3 with 8.1 seconds left. I'm not sure what the instruction was out of the huddle, but the way it played out, I think it would have been too early if we had fouled before they ended up getting the shot off.

[Pounce Needs Pals]

Turning point was after the under 11 minute mark down 44-35. Upsettting watching the team stand around on the defense of end and not getting a rebound. Zach Howell hits a three at 10:40. Defense gets more energy and was forcing turnovers. Not sure why it took so look to turn on the energy switch in that 2nd half.

[73withharoldlee]

A Great Win against a very good team on the road. What more can you say? Well, the rebound and pass from Thomas to Freeman was about athletes making great plays. It is something we have seen very little of the last few years. Nothing against previous coaches and players. BUT, you need very good players to block shots, make the steal, get the rebounds, make the pass, and hit the shot. We have more of those players on this team. They are fun to watch. I don’t think there will be much of a let down as the season moves into the second half of the schedule. Lundy is a very good coach and recruiter. We are lucky to have him at the helm.

[Cactus Panther]

[Cactus Panther]

Buzzer-beating heroics by Justin Thomas, BJ Freeman lead UWM to another big win
Curt Hogg
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

UW-Milwaukee head coach Bart Lundy was tasked with the impossible: picking the most impressive part of the game-saving play at the end of regulation at Cleveland State on Thursday night.

The athleticism of Justin Thomas to knife through the defense and soar for the offensive rebound as the final seconds ticked off the clock in the second half? The acrobatic work to, while still hanging in the air, get a pass back out to the three-point line? The precision of the pass to hit BJ Freeman in the chest? The calmness of Freeman to sink the game-tying three with 1.6 seconds left?

How about all the above?

“It was an awesome one-motion rebound by Justin,” Lundy said. “He got several big rebounds at the end of the game but that was the biggest one. We ran that play for BJ and he got that three off, and I thought the first one was going to go in. Then everyone expected that second one to go in and it sure did.”

Thomas’ pass and Freeman’s triple sent UWM to overtime, where more clutch shot-making lifted the Panthers to a 68-64 win.

UWM, which entered the day tied with the Vikings for second place in the Horizon League, moved to 4-1 in conference play and matched their entire win total from last season as it improved to 10-5 this year.

“We said it’s not gonna be pretty,” Lundy said. “They’re a really good defensive team. We weren’t making shots, so we needed to wear them out and try to get stops. We’ve got a resilient group and I thought that as Cleveland State started to get tired, we finally saw some shots go in.”

Freeman drained 5 threes and scored a game-high 24 points, but was mostly quiet for the majority of the second half after scoring 16 points in the first half. He came to life again late, first hitting a three with 1 minute, 6 seconds remaining to put UWM up, 53-52, the first lead for the Panthers since they were up, 19-18, early.

The Vikings responded and went ahead, 56-53, with 17 seconds left on four straight free throws. They seemed to have the game under wraps when Freeman missed his first attempt from the corner in the waning seconds, but failed to box out Thomas and suffered the consequences. Cleveland State may have gotten away with a flop, as well, on an attempt to draw a charge while defending Freeman. Had it been called, the Panthers would have gotten a free throw attempt to take the lead after the play.

“We don’t seem to get that call much this year,” Lundy said.

Instead, overtime would have to suffice for UWM.

With the Panthers trailing by four thanks to an 8-2 Vikings run, Thomas hit a three with 1:46 left in overtime to draw within one. Cleveland State turned the ball over on its next possession, then Freeman followed up his own miss with a layup to put UWM up, 65-64, with 31 seconds to go.

Tristan Enaruna, whose 16 points led the Vikings, missed a turnaround jumper in the paint with a chance to take the lead and Thomas went 3 for 4 from the free throw line in the closing seconds to seal the win.

UWM hit some timely shots late, but make no mistake: this game was won on the strength of its defense.

The Panthers held the Vikings to 32.9% from the field and just 4 of 18 from three while winning the turnover battle (15 to 14) against one of the better turnover-avoidance teams in the country.

After falling behind by nine points midway through the second half, the Panthers allowed only six points over the next 11 minutes to claw their way back.

On Saturday, UWM travels to Purdue Fort Wayne to cap a challenging opening slate to conference play featuring five of six games on the road.

So far, so good.

“From even before the season in talking to our guys, we emphasized this little stretch,” Lundy said. “We’ve got to be gritty and grind some games out to get some road wins and keep ourselves relevant in league standings. This is how you contend for a league title. You win on the road in OT in a game where you don’t shoot well.

“Those are the wins you look back on and say that got us to where we wanted to go.”