Jan. 1, 2013

The Last Meeting

Milwaukee	57
Detroit	58

February 10, 2012
Detroit, Mich.

Detroit Comeback Sends Milwaukee To Heartbreaking Defeat Jason Calliste hit two free throws with under 12 seconds remaining to give Detroit a come-from-behind 58-57 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday night at Calihan Hall. The Panthers led by 10 points with less than three minutes to play but were done in by a 15-4 Titan run to end the game.

Recap | Box Score

• UWM ended 2012 with a 95-80 victory over Ohio Dominican. The Panthers shot a season-best 44.8 percent and their 95 points were the most since the beginning of the 2009-10 season.

• Jordan Aaron came off the bench to score a season-high 34 points. The junior guard, who had started the first 13 games of the season, was delayed by weather in his return from Christmas break in New York and only got back to Milwaukee late last Friday night.

• The travel delays of Aaron, along with similar delays for Demetrius Harris and a concussion for Kyle Kelm, led Milwaukee to debut its fourth starting lineup of the season. Eleven different players have started at least one game this season for Milwaukee.

• Paris Gulley has been in double figures in points in six of the first eight games he has played in this season, including three 20-point performances. He missed the first six games of the year with a broken hand. The senior played in all 34 games a season ago, averaging better than eight points per game while finishing second on the team in three-pointers.

• UWM is 0-6 in true road games this season and has played eight of its first 14 games of the season outside of Milwaukee.

• Milwaukee was picked to finish sixth in the Horizon League.

• Detroit went to the NCAA Tournament a season ago and was picked to finish second in the league this year.

• Game #15
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team opens 2013 and Horizon League play with a Thursday night contest at Detroit.

• A Quick Scout
Detroit is 8-5 on the year ... Ray McCallum was named the Horizon League Player of the Week this past week and continues to lead the Titans on offense ... UDM is averaging better than 77 points per game and is a perfect 7-0 at home ... Detroit was picked to finish second in the league this season ... the Titans won the Horizon League Tournament title a season ago and played in the NCAA Tournament ... they will raise their league tournament title banner prior to the game.

• Matchup Notes
UWM leads the all-time series with Detroit, 21-17 ... the overall series with the Titans has worked its way to the advantage of the Panthers thanks to a good run of success of late by UWM, which has won 17 of the last 22 meetings with Detroit ... the two teams split their matchups a season ago, with the Panthers running out to a 26-point lead en route to a win in Milwaukee before the Titans staged a late rally to win in Detroit ... the two sides have played a number of excellent games over the years ... in 2007-08, the Panthers were down 14 points with 6:30 to play only to rally, with a Paige Paulsen three giving UWM a 55-53 victory ... the two teams also played a pair of OT games in 2006-07 and UWM overcame a 10-point deficit at Detroit during the 2005-06 campaign ... Milwaukee beat Detroit, 59-58, in the 2005 league title game.

• Opening Up In The League
UWM starts league play looking for its fifth-straight win in a league opener after dropping its opener in both 2006-07 and 2007-08. Last season, the Panthers knocked off Loyola to start the year. Prior to 2006-07, Milwaukee won its league opener six-straight times, meaning Thursday it is looking for a 11th win in its last 13 league lid-lifters. In all, since joining the MCC/Horizon League, Milwaukee is 10-8 in league openers overall.

• Not So Early With League Play
After 10-straight years of playing at least one league game in the month of December, UWM is not starting its league schedule until Jan. 3. The schedule was adjusted following Butler's move to the Atlantic 10, with no one in the league starting earlier than Jan. 2. Last season, UWM played four league games in the month of December and two season ago Milwaukee was playing its fifth league game on Jan. 3.

• Tough Road Swings
UWM has just two true weekend road swings in Horizon League play this season, with the first coming this weekend as Milwaukee heads to Detroit and Dayton. The loss of Butler has eliminated some of the more traditional Thursday-Saturday (or Friday-Sunday) weekends, with UWM's only other main trip sending them to Youngstown and Cleveland in February. Milwaukee does also have a unique Wednesday-Friday journey that includes Loyola and Valparaiso. In looking only at league road swings that involve two games in three days since the 2001-02 campaign, UWM has won both games of a trip seven times, split a trip nine times and been swept nine times. Last year, Milwaukee lost both of its games on this trip.

• Plenty Of Time On The Road
It is nothing new for the Panthers to be heading out on the road and Milwaukee will now be looking to break through in the win column away from home. UWM played eight of its 14 non-league games outside of Milwaukee, including road games at Northern Iowa, DePaul, Wisconsin and Fairfield. The road hasn't been kind to Milwaukee this season, as the Panthers are 0-6 in true road games and 0-8 total in games outside of Milwaukee. But in recent seasons UWM has had pretty good success on the road, as the Panthers won seven true road games a season ago and eight road contests two years ago.

• A Leader On The Horizon
The Horizon League takes on a slightly new look in 2012-13 with the departure of Butler to the Atlantic 10. That move caused a late adjustment in the league schedule, which now is not beginning until early January. UWM also now takes over the mantle of winningest Horizon League program over the last 12 years. The Panthers are the only school to average more than 10 league wins per season in that time and Milwaukee has been below .500 in league play just once in 12 years. UWM's 130-70 mark in 12 seasons bests Wright State (113-87) by 17 games and those are the only two schools to win at least 100 league games in that time.

• Numbers, Tips And Trends
- Paris Gulley had 26 points and six 3-pointers in last year's first matchup with Detroit but had just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting in the second contest.

- James Haarsma had 17 points in the first meeting but just three in the second.

- UWM had 43 turnovers and gave up 31 offensive rebounds in the two meetings with Detroit a season ago.

- Milwaukee has used four different starting lineups in the first 14 games of the season and has had 11 players make at least one start. Seven of those players were making their first start as Panthers.

- After going through a stretch of five games in 11 days, Milwaukee will be playing for just the third time in 19 days when it takes the court in Detroit.

- UWM made 34 three-pointers in its first three games of the season but has made just 60 total in the next 11 contests.

- Injuries continue to impact Milwaukee. Kyle Kelm missed the game with Ohio Dominican because of a concussion and was limited early in the season by a foot injury. Paris Gulley missed the first six games with a broken hand. And, Thierno Niang played eight minutes Saturday in his first game action since Dec. 12 because of a bad back. He has also returned to full practice for the first time in over a month.

• The Last Time Out
Jordan Aaron scored 34 points and UWM scored 59 points in the second half to claim a 95-80 win over Ohio Dominican Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center. The Panthers shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half and used an 18-6 burst to open the second half in putting the game away. Aaron came off the bench after his return from Christmas break was delayed by weather. Demetrius Harris also experienced similar weather problems in attempting to return from Arkansas but came off the bench to score 14 points and add five rebounds and four blocks.

• Nice Offensive Numbers
Milwaukee's struggles on offense have been well-documented but at least for one day the Panthers posted some large numbers offensively. UWM's 95 total points marked its most since scoring 96 in a win over Texas State in November of 2009. Plus, its 59 second-half points were the most it has scored since 2005. UWM also shot better than 44 percent for a second-straight game after going five-straight games below 40 percent. And, the Panthers posted another half above 50 percent, the second time in the last four halves of basketball UWM has done that. Those numbers stand in pretty good contrast to Milwaukee's season tallies, which stand at 37.8 percent overall shooting and 63.4 points per game.

• Making His Point
It hasn't taken long for junior-college transfer Jordan Aaron to settle into the backcourt for Milwaukee. His best offensive effort came Saturday in the win over Ohio Dominican, as he poured in 34 points. Those 34 points came off the bench, as the usual starter played as a reserve after being stuck in New York most of the week because of bad weather. In fact, he only made it back to Milwaukee Friday night and did not practice before scoring the most points by a Panther since 2006. Aaron has been in double figures in scoring in 10 of UWM's first 14 games, including a 28-point effort at South Carolina, a run of 13 points in a row in a win over Davidson and 23 more points in a losing effort against Buffalo Dec. 5. He also reached double figures in assists for the first time in his Milwaukee Dec. 7, as he tallied 11 against Northern Illinois.

• Great To Have Him Back
Milwaukee had been looking forward to getting senior guard Paris Gulley back in the playing rotation and that day finally arrived when Gulley stepped on the court for the first time Dec. 1 at Northern Iowa. He scored 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and he hasn't really let up much since, posting two additional 20-plus-point performance while averaging 15.1 points per game. The guard suffered a broken hand in practice in late October and did not play in the first six games of the regular season. Gulley is a welcomed addition to the lineup after averaging 8.5 points per game and making 59 three-pointers in 34 games (29 starts) a season ago.

• Checking On The Inside Guys
Milwaukee continues to search for consistency from its interior players, who have posted some big games early in the year but have yet to truly find their stride.

- Demetrius Harris has started 12 of the first 14 games of the year but came off the bench to score 14 points to go with five rebounds and four blocks Saturday. Harris has already easily exceeded his totals of a season ago after just 14 games. He has 116 total points in 14 games this season after scoring 39 points all of last year. And, his 65 total rebounds in 14 contests have easily surpassed the 33 boards he posted the entire season last year

- James Haarsma had 12 points and five rebounds Saturday but the senior is still shooting just 32.3 percent from the field and has made just three 3-pointers. That seems bound to get a lot better, as Haarsma shot 52.5 percent overall a season ago and made 31 three-pointers.

- Kyle Kelm had a double-double against Fairfield and just missed one against Tennessee Tech but then got hit hard early in the game at Wisconsin and missed the Ohio Dominican contest because of a concussion.

- UWM has also looked more toward a pair of freshmen for help in the front court. J.J. Panoske had 13 points and six rebounds at Wisconsin and then made his first career start against Ohio Dominican. And, Austin Arians has posted a pair of double-figure outings and started the game vs. Tennessee Tech.

• Media Watch
Time Warner Cable's Sports32 is again the official television home for Panther basketball, while the radio broadcasts return to WISN (AM 1130) as UWM and Clear Channel Radio have inked a new agreement for both men's and women's coverage. Sports32 will carry at least nine games this season, as Daron Sutton and Adrian Tigert return as the voices of Panther basketball on TV. Bill Johnson returns for his 14th season as the radio play-by-play man. The weekly "Panther Sports Report" radio show will also return in January, while "The Rob Jeter Show" is also back on Sports32.

• Looking To The Future
UWM has signed three players during the fall signing period. Trinson White of Milwaukee, Cody Wichmann of Pulaski and Brett Prahl of East Troy will all join the Panthers for the 2013-14 season. A 6-foot-5 wing at Indian Hills, White played his high school basketball at Milwaukee Riverside, where he was an all-state performer. Wichmann is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Pulaski High School, where he was a WBCA First-Team All-State honoree as a junior. Prahl is a 6-foot-9 forward from East Troy High School who averaged 12.9 points per game as a junior while earning First-Team All-Walworth County and All-Rock Valley Conference recognition.