A chance to come full circle

There are varying possibilities when two players collide in the lane. Sometimes it's a foul, sometimes it's not, sometimes one or both get hurt, sometimes it changes the outcome of the game.

On December 10th, 2011, Kyle Kelm had one of those collisions. It may not have changed the outcome of the game, but it did change the outcome of his season. Suffering a shoulder injury in the second half, Kelm sat out the rest of the game, missed the next two (including the all-important Badger game) and couldn't quite sustain his rise for the rest of the season.

Add in the nagging come-and-go foot injury, and Kelm has been one of the walking wounded for much of his Milwaukee Panthers career. Last season's injury against UNI, however, was in many ways the last time Panther fans saw him improve.

In the McLeod Center last season, Kelm was a beast. He was 4-4 from the field including three treys, and while he only pulled down two rebounds his defense was instrumental in not letting UNI's fab freshman Seth Tuttle get on a roll. Tuttle finished with five points on 20% shooting. If it weren't for Kelm, Milwaukee would have been run out of the gym. He single-handedly kept them in it, and his injury led to UNI's run that put the Panthers away for good.

Kelm's woes of last season were not immediately evident. He returned at Marquette and scored 10 points, including a powerful dunk that brought a hush to the Ring Out Ahoya faithful. He was averaging 9.3 points per game and 5.2 rebounds at the time of his shoulder injury, both of which would have easily eclipsed his freshman season had he been able to sustain it.

He ended last season with 7.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, not astonomically less but also not showing the signs of improvement he had been showing steadily since he stepped on campus in 2010.

Tonight, Kelm takes the floor with the rest of the Milwaukee Panthers in a quest to avenge the loss last year and the season that was hampered with a shoulder injury. It's a chance for him to come full circle - to have gotten better every day, have it taken away, endure a painful season, and come back to the place of torment.

It's fitting, because Milwaukee also returns Paris Gulley, who has spent the first month of the season on the shelf with a broken non-shooting hand. Gulley also has unfinished business with UNI; he pulled an 0-fer in 2011, going 0-for-6 from the field in 32 minutes.

But my eyes are on Kelm, who is all-important to the success of Milwaukee in 2012-13. With him playing up to his potential, the Panthers are a much, much better team than they are with Kelm struggling.

We'll see tonight if he completes the circle.

If you'd like to talk about this article or the UNI game tonight, head over to the forum thread where discussion is ongoing and will continue through the game and postgame.