For the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s basketball team, a second trip to the NCAA Tournament in as many years produced the opportunity for another sweet trip.

And with a trouncing of the Butler Bulldogs in the Horizon League Tournament fresh in their minds, the Panthers players headed to Jacksonville, Fla., to reclaim last year’s glory.

Davis, Tucker lead way over Oklahoma

UWM’s basketball team seemed to recapture the magic of March as the slipper fit again after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 82-74 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 16.

The 11th-seeded Panthers (22-8) claimed their third NCAA Tournament victory in school history after defeating sixth-seeded Oklahoma (20-9). It was UWM’s first ever victory against a Big 12 school.

Milwaukee was led by Boo Davis’s 26 points and six rebounds and Joah Tucker added 24 and five rebounds to lead the Panthers to their second consecutive first-round upset in the NCAA Tournament.

Terrell Everett led the way for the Sooners with 21 points and 11 assists.

UWM was the only team in this year’s tournament to start five seniors.

“That’s where experience comes in,” Tucker said. Tucker has now reached double figures in 27 straight games while Davis has scored 20 or more points 13 times.

Senior Adrian Tigert had 14 points and five rebounds while senior Chris Hill chipped in with 10 points and four assists. Altogether, the senior starters combined for 74 of the team’s 82 points.

Free throws helped seal game

One of the telling stats on why the Panthers won the game is their ability to get to the free throw line. The Panthers were 26 for 32 (81 percent) from the line, while the Sooners got to the line just five times and shot 5 of 8 (63 percent).

Tucker and Davis were cold-blooded from the charity stripe, making a combined 21 of 26.

Davis got the Panthers rolling right off the opening tip with a three pointer. In what became a very fast-paced game, the Panthers jumped out to a 10-6 start but the Sooners quickly tied the game at 10.

UWM responded with a 5-0 run of its own, forcing Oklahoma to turn the ball over four times in the first seven minutes. Tucker’s three pointer helped open up the Panthers lead to 24-14 with 8:36 to play in the first half.

The Sooners once again staged a comeback when they went on a 9-2 run with 3:44 to play, and cut the UWM lead down to three points. However, the savvy group of seniors for the Panthers stayed poised, as the Panthers would not give up the lead, taking a 33-31 lead at the half.

Davis led the way, scoring 19 points and grabbing six rebounds at the half.

“You know there’s going to be runs in the game,” Tucker said. “You’ve got to find a way to stop the runs .… We had to find ways to get baskets and go to the free throw line. But the most important thing is we stayed poised.”

Oklahoma got off to a quick start, tying the game at 37-37 early in the second half but the Panthers would not fold, going on a 9-0 run to increase the lead to 52-41 after a Davis steal and score set the crowd into a frenzy.

The Sooners kept it close but the Panthers never gave up the lead as clutch free throw shooting and valued possessions helped seal another upset win for the Panthers in the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers defensive pressure also played a vital role in the victory, forcing the Sooners to turn it over 18 times.

Early lead assisted in win

“It was hard to play catch-up,” said Oklahoma guard Terrell Everett. “They made their free throws. They did everything right to win the game.”

It was only the fourth time that UWM defeated a ranked opponent. The other teams were Butler in 2002 and the two teams in the NCAA Tournament in 2005, Alabama and Boston College.

“You have a group of freshman, you can just tell them what to do,” coach Rob Jeter said. “With the seniors who have been around the block, of course they are going to see how far they go. But with this team, it’s all in the fun.”

Milwaukee became the sixth Horizon League school to win at least one NCAA Tournament game in the past nine seasons.

For the most part, the Panthers contained senior big man Kevin Bookout for the Sooners, who finished with 14 points and Taj Gray added 13 before fouling out in the final minutes.

Oklahoma has made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances in 12 seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson. The last time the Sooners lost in the first round was back in 2001 against Indiana State.

The Panthers have now scored 80 or more points in three straight games and in 11 games this season. They have also scored at least 80 points in each of their three NCAA Tournament wins.

Gators provide big challenge

For UWM’s five senior starters, outstanding college careers came to an end with an 82-60 loss to the Florida Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18 at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.

Senior Adrian Tigert led the way for the Panthers (22-9) with a career-high 27 points and the addition of eight rebounds.

Corey Brewer lead the balanced attack for the Gators (29-6) with 23 points and Joakim Noah added 17 points and seven rebounds, as the Gators stayed hot by winning their seventh consecutive game.

“We played the way we’ve been doing it all year and we just met an opponent that was bigger than us,” head coach Rob Jeter said. “We couldn’t match their size. We tried, but we just couldn’t.”

The size problem was evident as the Gators outscored the Panthers 40-28 in the paint.

Noah and the Gators’ other big man, Al Horford, combined for 30 points and 11 rebounds on 11-of-18 shooting.

Foul trouble hurts starters

It didn’t help that Tigert and Joah Tucker both picked up their second fouls in the first half. Tucker sat the last seven minutes of the half while Tigert sat the last five minutes. Tigert then picked up his third foul early in the second half.

However, despite the foul trouble for Tigert, the senior managed to have one of the best games in his UWM career.

“Look at his stat line,” Jeter said. “He’s been like this for us all year. He just takes what other teams will give and he’s a very patient player.”

Aside from Tigert’s 27 points, the senior also added eight rebounds and three assists on an astonishing 11-of-13 shooting from the field.

Unfortunately, senior Tucker could never really get into a rhythm on offense, scoring nine points on 4-of-14 shooting. The Gators also did a great job containing sharpshooter Boo Davis, holding him to 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.

The Gators focused on not allowing Davis to come off the screens he typically uses to get open looks for three pointers.

One of the glaring differences in the stat line was the field goal percentage in which the Gators shot 53 percent while the Panthers shot just 36 percent. The Gators also shot 14 for 19 from the free throw line while the Panthers shot just over 50 percent, making 9 of 17.

“Offensively, I thought we had very good balance,” said Florida head coach Billy Donovan. “Our front court players did a good job in and around the basket. Corey (Brewer) had a very good game shooting the basketball. I think the one thing that helped us in the first half was our big lineup. When we went to the big lineup, we hurt them on the backboards a little bit.”

The Gators out-rebounded the Panthers 41-33 and added seven blocks to the Panthers three. Brewer sizzled as he shot 9 of 16 from the field including 5 of 8 from the three-point line to lead the Gators with 23 points.

Florida’s home environment

The game could definitely have been considered a home game for Florida, as it was played in Jacksonville.

Davis hit a jumper to tie the game at 5 but Taurean Green came down and hit a three to put Florida up 8-5 and the Gators never looked back. Tucker scored his only field goal in the first half to cut the Panthers lead to 14-11 but the Gators answered and went on a 10-0 scoring run, holding the Panthers scoreless for five minutes.

The Panthers kept it close once again when Tigert made two free throws to cut the lead to 24-20 with 4:21 remaining. UWM held tight the rest of the half without Tigert and Tucker, who each had two fouls, as the Gators lead 34-26 at halftime.

UWM got off to a quick start in the second half as Tigert hit a three to cut the lead to 34-29. However, that is as close as the Panthers would get after Brewer came down and hit a three to push the lead back to 37-29 and the Gators then went on a 9-2 scoring run.

The game seemed to get out of reach when the Gators extended the lead to 54-39 with 11 minutes to go but Milwaukee junior guard Allan Hanson kept the Panthers in it with a couple of threes to cut the lead to 57-48 with 9:37 remaining and UWM appeared that it would make a final run.

However, the Gators would put the Panthers away for good going on a 12-0 scoring run in the next three and a half minutes to extend the lead to 70-48 and put the Panthers Sweet 16 hopes out of reach.

Layups were a chronic problem throughout the game with the Panthers missing six of them, some coming in crucial moments of the game. UWM never could quite get over the hump and grab the lead.

Seniors leave after sweet careers

Tucker finished up an outstanding career at UWM with 1,416 points, eighth on the school’s all-time list. He also finished with 513 rebounds.

Tigert set school records for appearances (120) and starts (117). He also is the school’s Division 1 rebounding leader with 760 and the all-time minutes leader with 3,365. He also finished with 1,060 points, good for 19th on the school’s all-divisions all-time list.

Davis finished his career with 832 points and 147 three-point baskets. Point guard Chris Hill finished with 755 points and 304 assists. Along with Jason McCoy, Derrick Ford and Mark Pancratz, this group of seniors helped lead the Panthers to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, which included Milwaukee’s first ever NCAA Tournament win and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2005.

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