Kaylon Williams moved within one assist of Marc Mitchell’s single season assists record, but it was his 19 points and 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc that gave the Milwaukee Panthers a victory Thursday night over the UIC Flames, 72-61.
Williams had a double-double on the night, dishing out ten assists to push his career total to 356 and bring him within one of Marc Mitchell’s single-season record. There was a record that did get equalized on Thursday night; with three blocks, Ryan Allen tied Dylan Page and Eugene Sims with 37 blocks, the single-season record for Milwaukee.
Following Williams was Tony Meier, who scored 17 points and edged within 15 of the 1,000-point plateau for his career. Meier, like Williams, was dominant behind the arc, hitting five of seven attempts from three-point land.
Milwaukee began the game trading blows with UIC outside the arc before pulling away when the Flames couldn’t keep up. The Panthers held double-digit leads at several points in the first half, but the Flames cut the lead to nothing and actually led at the break, 32-29.
Halftime was just what the doctor ordered, as Milwaukee turned that three-point deficit into a four-point advantage at 44-40 with 12 minutes left in the game. Milwaukee took the lead for good at the 11:38 mark in the second half and never looked back. The Flames made it interesting by bringing it within five points and :45 seconds remaining, but the Panthers calmly hit their free throws and kept the game out of reach.
Milwaukee had trouble guarding Darrin Williams’ pudginess inside and Hayden Humes’ surprisingly crisp ball control, but it was Marc Brown’s outside shot that really kept the game close. By the time Brown hit his fourth three-pointer, coach Rob Jeter switched Ryan Allen onto Brown, only to see him drain a fifth three-pointer on just his sixth attempt.
It was the Panthers, however, that ruled the arc. Brown’s play was impressive, but Milwaukee had three legit bombers from long range - Kaylon Williams (4-7), Paris Gulley (3-5) and Tony Meier (5-7) all shot better than 50% from three-point land.
Milwaukee moved to 18-12 on the season and 10-7 in Horizon League play. The Panthers can still tie for second place with a victory over Loyola on Saturday coupled with losses by Butler and Cleveland State, but the Panthers will not get the two-seed regardless due to Youngstown State or Detroit being guaranteed to finish tied with the Black and Gold (Detroit would win tiebreaker due to a sweep of Butler and YSU swept Milwaukee).
PantherU sends a big thanks to Kevin Hazaert for putting together these scenarios for the Panthers on the weekend:
If Milwaukee loses to Loyola … plus:
Detroit beats Youngstown State: Milwaukee would be the 6 seed (UWM & YSU would be 10-8, with YSU winning head-to-head tiebreaker)
Youngstown State beats Detroit: Milwaukee would be the 5 seed (UWM & Detroit would be 10-8. Teams split season series, but UWM wins tiebreaker with 1-1 record vs. Valpo as Detroit was 0-2 vs. Valpo.)
If Milwaukee beats Loyola (and Cleveland State and Butler both win) … plus:
Youngstown State beats Detroit: Milwaukee would be the 5 seed (UWM & YSU would be 11-7, with YSU winning head-to-head tiebreaker)
Detroit beats Youngstown State: Milwaukee would be the 4 seed (UWM & Detroit would be 11-7. Teams split season series, but UWM wins tiebreaker with 1-1 record vs. Valpo as Detroit was 0-2 vs. Valpo.)
If Milwaukee beats Loyola (and Cleveland State and Butler both lose) … plus:
Youngstown State beats Detroit: Milwaukee would be 5 seed. (CSU, Butler, YSU and UWM would all finish at 11-7. Butler is 4-2 vs. group, CSU & YSU are both 3-3 vs. group, UWM is 2-4 vs. group.)
Detroit beats Youngstown State: Milwaukee would be 3 seed. (CSU, Butler, Detroit and UWM would all finish at 11-7. CSU is 4-2 vs. group, UWM & Detroit are both 3-3 vs. group, Butler is 2-4 vs. group. UWM wins tiebreaker over Detroit with 1-1 vs. Valpo as Detroit was 0-2 vs. Valpo.)
If Milwaukee beats Loyola (and Cleveland State wins, and Butler loses) … plus:
Youngstown State beats Detroit: Milwaukee would be 5 seed. (Butler, YSU and UWM tied at 11-7. Butler is 3-1 vs. group, YSU is 2-2 vs. group, UWM is 1-3 vs. group.)
Detroit beats Youngstown State: Milwaukee would be 4 seed. (Butler, Detroit and UWM tied at 11-7. Detroit is 3-1 vs. group, UWM is 2-2 vs. group, Butler is 1-3 vs. group.)
If Milwaukee beats Loyola (and Butler wins, and Cleveland State loses) … plus:
Youngstown State beats Detroit: Milwaukee would be 5 seed. (CSU, YSU and UWM tied at 11-7. YSU is 3-1 vs. group, CSU is 2-2 vs. group, UWM is 1-3 vs. group.)
Detroit beats Youngstown State: Milwaukee would be 4 seed. (CSU, Detroit and UWM tied at 11-7. CSU is 3-1 vs. group, UWM is 2-2 vs. group, Detroit is 1-3 vs. group.)