The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball team solidified its standing in the Horizon Conference, beating Cleveland State University and Youngstown State University.

The team, coming off a week to forget, made a statement on Thursday night, Feb. 9. UWM blew out the Penguins, 98-57.

While the Penguins as a team leave something to be desired, individual performers are thriving. The best example of this is guard Quin Humphrey, who leads the Horizon League in scoring. An astonishing scorer, Humphrey was limited to 11 points and was kept in check all night by UWM guards.

The leading scorer for the Penguins instead was Derrick Harris, who scored a modest 15 points.

Senior forward Adrian Tigert ruled the game in the beginning by scoring 16 points, most of which came in the paint. The Panthers completely dominated Youngstown State in every statistical category until garbage time, when the fouls began to rack up.

Senior guard Boo Davis made a significant rebound from last week, when he struggled immensely. The friendly confines of the Cell allowed Davis to score 16 points. He made four three-pointers, more than he had in the Wright State and Butler losses combined.

Star forward Joah Tucker, who racked up a season-high 26 points against Butler, also had 16 points. He also had six rebounds and four assists in the contest, but he only made it to the free throw line twice.

All 16 players who suited up for Milwaukee played, with no player logging more than 25 minutes.

In fact, the only player who didn't score was Myles McKay. But it wasn't for lack of trying, however, as McKay put up two shots with time running out. A loud chorus of "Two more points" showed Myles that the crowd was behind him.

In the end, the Penguins stopped the chance for Milwaukee to score 100 points. It was their only real stop of the night.

A second blowout

In the Wolstein Center, home of Cleveland State University, UWM took its only two victories in the NCAA Tournament against Alabama and Boston College last year.

Saturday night, Feb. 11, the Panthers made themselves comfortable once more, routing the Vikings, 86-57.

Tigert paced a Panthers team that is gaining momentum on its way to the Horizon League tournament. With 16 points and 10 rebounds, he got his fourth double-double in five games, with the lone exception coming in the Thursday night blowout win against Youngstown State. Tucker and Davis each scored 17 points, while the Vikings were led by reserve Victor Morris, who had 12 points.

Fifteen players suited up for the Panthers, and each of them played at least four minutes in the contest. Derrick Ford came through in a big way for the Panthers, scoring six points, two blocks and two steals, despite fouling out.

Tyrone Young, who took a long time adjusting to a higher level of opposition, had six points and a steal.

The Panthers next play at 7 p.m. tonight at the U.S. Cellular Arena against the rival University of Illinois-Chicago Flames.

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