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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Feb 24, 2023 8:41:08 GMT -6
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Post by Cactus Panther on Feb 24, 2023 9:48:40 GMT -6
Panther Athletics is set to honor the first men's basketball team in program history to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament this coming Saturday. This season marks the 20-year anniversary of the 2002-03 campaign, the first time the Panthers advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
That winter, the team won a school-record 24 games and claimed its first-ever Horizon League Tournament championship. The Panthers then just missed an upset of Notre Dame, 70-69, in a first-round contest. The team entered the tournament as a 12-seed in the West Region and faced the fifth-seeded Fighting Irish in Indianapolis.
The full roster has been invited to attend the game against Cleveland State Saturday evening and will be recognized and honored for their accomplishments. A large contingent of the roster is set to be in attendance.
Led by head coach Bruce Pearl, the Panthers earned their first NCAA tournament bid after beating Butler, 69-52, in the Horizon League championship. Tournament MVP Clay Tucker scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half and they did it all in front of a record crowd of 10,115 at what was then the U.S. Cellular Arena in downtown Milwaukee – then the largest home crowd ever for a Panther game.
Tucker led the offense that season with averages of 18.3 points per game, while adding 5.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He was one of four players to average double-figures, joined by Dylan Page (17.7 ppg), Ronnie Jones (10.8 ppg), and Jason Rederick (10.3 ppg). On the court, MKE's 24 wins marked the most in the school's Division I history and equaled the most in the program's 107-year history.
2002-03 Milwaukee Panthers roster
Player # Class Pos HGT WGT Hometown Stats Summary
Derek Huff 1 SR F 6-8 245 Louisville, KY 1.3 Pts, 0.9 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Chris Hill 2 SO G 5-10 160 Chicago, Ill. Redshirt season
Ronnie Jones 5 SR G 5-9 165 Las Vegas, NV 10.8 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 3.0 Ast
Mark Pancratz 10 FR G 6-3 185 Schaumburg, IL 1.4 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Joah Tucker 13 SO F 6-5 220 Milwaukee, WI Sat out due to transfer
Dan Weisse 14 SR G 5-11 175 Oshkosh, WI 3.3 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Dylan Page 15 JR F 6-9 230 Amherst, WI 17.7 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Marcus Conigliaro 20 FR G 6-2 195 Milwaukee, WI 0.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Fernando Johnson 21 FR C 6-9 245 Milwaukee, WI 0.5 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Jose Winston 22 SR G 6-0 180 Milwaukee, WI 1.8 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 2.5 Ast
Jason Frederick 24 SR G 6-4 185 Waukesha, WI 10.3 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 2.4 Ast
Clay Tucker 30 SR G 6-4 195 Lima, OH 18.3 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 4.1 Ast
Adam Finley 32 FR F 6-7 230 Genoa, IL 0.4 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Justin Lettenberger 33 SR F 6-6 190 Manitowoc, WI 6.1 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 1.2 Ast
Nate Mielke 40 JR C 6-11 235 Waterloo, IA 6.5 Pts, 4.9 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Rob Sanders 42 SO F 6-7 210 Toledo, OH 2.0 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Adrian Tigert 44 SO F 6-6 230 Oshkosh, WI Redshirt season
Go Panthers! United We Roar!
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Feb 24, 2023 13:31:51 GMT -6
FYI for parking. Downtown will be packed!!
A) It's Saturday night
B) Milwaukee Auto Show
C) Soldout Marquette game at Fiserv.
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Post by Spirit of Bruce on Feb 24, 2023 15:13:07 GMT -6
Perhaps I will get downtown even earlier than I was already planning and take in the Auto Show.
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Post by PantherU on Feb 24, 2023 16:46:31 GMT -6
FYI for parking. Downtown will be packed!! A) It's Saturday night B) Milwaukee Auto Show C) Soldout Marquette game at Fiserv. This makes me wish the streetcar went all over. We got a hell of a lot of use of it during Summerfest because we could park a couple miles away and get dropped off a couple blocks away. But getting away from anything remotely political, this game is going to be absolutely crazy. Cleveland State is probably playing the best ball in the conference right now. Tae Williams had a 30-point triple double last night and though it doesn't show in the box scores, he's getting a lot of work done with hustle and fundamentals the last several games. Obviously Enaruna is going to be a handful and a half. Lowder is getting better as the season moves on. We will need our best game of the year tomorrow if we want to walk out with a two seed or *fingers crossed* a share of the regular season title and a one seed. No easy games left. |
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Feb 24, 2023 17:23:04 GMT -6
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Post by uwm86but80ot11 on Feb 24, 2023 17:25:00 GMT -6
Any idea on what they expect the attendance to be for the game?
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Post by GoPanthers33 on Feb 24, 2023 18:22:04 GMT -6
A win gets us a 20 win season and at least the #2 seed.
Should IUPUI also pull off a miracle in that scenario we’d be the #1 and lock up at least an NIT bid.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Feb 24, 2023 19:36:57 GMT -6
CSU-1/149
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Post by Anther the Panther on Feb 24, 2023 20:00:14 GMT -6
FYI for parking. Downtown will be packed!! A) It's Saturday night B) Milwaukee Auto Show C) Soldout Marquette game at Fiserv. Thanks for the heads-up. As I’m not from the area, I’m not familiar with all of the options. Last time I parked at the Wells Street garage. Would this be ok say, an hour before tipoff? |
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Feb 24, 2023 22:42:58 GMT -6
FYI for parking. Downtown will be packed!! A) It's Saturday night B) Milwaukee Auto Show C) Soldout Marquette game at Fiserv. Thanks for the heads-up. As I’m not from the area, I’m not familiar with all of the options. Last time I parked at the Wells Street garage. Would this be ok say, an hour before tipoff? Yes. Sounds like enough time. Especially since the Panthers do Senior Day before tipoff. Fiserv Forum games normally park at the Fiserv Structure and the Highland Structure. Wells Street garage is where most part for events at UWMPA. |
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Post by Duct_Tape_Pounce on Feb 25, 2023 12:10:21 GMT -6
The Panthers need a much better game than they did against Fort Wayne to have a chance against Cleveland State. They needed a lot of things to go right to win on Thursday. They needed to play a 9th place team in the conference (who has been playing like it lately). They needed a loud crowd in a high school gym. They needed a triple double fro BJ Freeman and 13 (I think) threes. They needed an injury to bench a key player on the opposing team at the end of the first half. They needed the student section to change sides. And even with all that, they still needed a last second three point shot to be short.
I’m not saying they can’t win. If they play like they did for the first few minutes of the second half on Thursday for a significant portion of the game and don’t play as lazily as they did in the first half at all, they have a shot. But a repeat of Thursday’s game is a likely double digit loss.
I’m honestly surprised CSU isn’t favored by more.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2023 12:37:17 GMT -6
I've come to realize the law of averages is going to go against us in close games (we've already won so many close ones). If we don't beat the brakes off CSU in the first half it may be more like a funeral tonight.
Is it possible that tonight is the last Arena game for the Panthers? I think the lease is through the end of 2024, but my if this is the way the Uni is breaking the news to fans and we are playing KC all games next year yikes.
I know a lot of ppl just want to see great basketball. I was that person who went to scores of games at the Arena alone and could care less about the amenities (though drinking and pregaming with wings, etc. at Goolsby's was a nice way to get amped up before the games).
Now that I am older with a family it is difficult to get people to go to a Panther game alone. Casual fans want to be able to eat and watch other games before the game and the landlocked East Side doesn't have anywhere for that to happen (would be awesome if it did- AND if we built a damn on-campus Arena).
When Andy Geiger told Jason, Jeff and myself that "this is a pull-out bleacher school and always will be" when we presented him with ideas about how to grow the hoops program... and then thanked us for the 5 minutes of time he took to tell us he is intransigent...
We should have listened.
The KC as our permanent home would be another blaringly loud message that "this is a pull-out bleacher school and always will be".
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Post by davedome on Feb 25, 2023 14:43:26 GMT -6
I hope the atmosphere and excitement for tonight’s game isn’t down because of the news of our Quarterfinal's location. Maybe could have waited afterwards to announce this.
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Post by uwm86but80ot11 on Feb 25, 2023 15:02:22 GMT -6
I hope the atmosphere and excitement for tonight’s game isn’t down because of the news of our Quarterfinal's location. Maybe could have waited afterwards to announce this. maybe we have an act of God and have 4,000 fans show up tonight and they take a second look at it. Haha. Me and few buddy are coming tonight first game we have seen together since Jeter fired. |
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