Horrible is the first word that popped into the heads of many fans of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s basketball team last Tuesday night.

That was the night when UWM marched into Memphis, Tenn., and got booted right back out by the No. 12 ranked University of Memphis Tigers, 79-52. A 27-point margin in almost any game is cause for concern, but the truth is UWM is not as bad as it looked on the floor that night.

For one, UWM already finished the hardest game on its schedule for the year. Memphis would beat any team UWM faces in the coming months by a large margin.

While not overlooking any single game, even South Dakota State and Montana, UWM should run the floor. Losing nine or 10 of their final games is probably the worst this team could do barring injury.

However, that injury may become a much larger factor than in previous years. If Joah Tucker goes down to injury, UWM is not the same team. Not by a long shot.

Many people would go ahead and start both Jason McCoy and Derrick Ford in that situation, but that lineup would create a big problem at the small forward position that neither Jason McCoy nor Adrian Tigert is adept at playing.

The more plausible solution would be to bring in Kevin Massiah, but he has barely had the experience at this level to win over the critics. Tucker has a reputation as a tough player, and it would be surprising if he were to go down with an injury.

Perhaps even more crippling would be the loss of Adrian Tigert. While he doesn’t bring the statistics and overall play that Tucker does, his presence underneath near the basket would be sorely missed, with his talent for rebounds and making solid decisions with the ball in his hands.

He is also one of the emotional leaders of the team, something that is underestimated in sports, but shines through in stars such as Brett Favre and Michael Jordan.

Luckily, his injury would be much easier to appease, as UWM would place Derrick Ford and Jason McCoy in the starting lineup. While that may sound better, having McCoy play the smaller players because of his minimal size, Derrick Ford might not play up to par for the center position.

He was expected to play a major role on the team last year. However he averaged only 3.2 points per game and 1.8 rebounds per game. On the other hand, Ford is an amazing shot blocker, needing only 29 blocks to move into the top five in UWM history.

It seems every time the Horizon League has a dominant team, a few teams come up with surprises, knocking off the better school. In 2003, when Butler made its run on the Sweet 16, it dropped away games against Loyola and UWM.

Even last year, when Milwaukee made a run, the UW-Green Bay Phoenix won up north, and Detroit walked in and beat the Panthers in the Horizon League opener at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Those upsets were all made by teams in the upper half of the conference, but don’t be surprised if an upset comes from the cellar dwellers. If the Panthers don’t get caught sleeping against lower-echelon Horizon foes such as Cleveland State and Youngstown State, they may very well run the table in conference play.

Upsets are one of the constants of sports, and if UWM is defeated in conference play, by no means does that mean they are in bad shape.

The toughest game Milwaukee has now is versus Wisconsin, the new annual game that will be much closer next month than in years past. This edition of the Panthers will have the 30-point shellacking of 2004 fresh in their memories.

The Badgers are returning only Alando Tucker to the starting lineup. A “Tale of Two Tuckers” will not only feature two of the best players in the nation, but also Rob Jeter’s first game against his mentor, UW coach Bo Ryan.

It also seems that UWM cannot look past Hawaii, which it hosts on Dec. 10 at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Hawaii pulled off an upset of No. 5 ranked Michigan State, blowing them out by 22 points. While MSU lost several players over the course of the game, most of those players played the majority of the game, and Hawaii held onto its game plan, disrupting the Spartans in the process.

Losses are a part of every season, and only a handful of teams have ever gone undefeated. In fact, it would be remarkable if UWM could get through their non-conference schedule losing only one game.

Being drubbed by Memphis is a learning experience, something that UWM can definitely use to fix its problems. It may be a blemish on the schedule, but in the end, Milwaukee will be better for it.

The fact is, losing doesn’t mean the season is over. In this case, losing the game means becoming a better basketball team.

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