The last time Wright State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee met in the Nutter Center, emotions ran high as the two teams battled for a conference title and NCAA Tournament bid. Neither of those prizes were on the line Thursday night.
But Thursday’s game had no shortage of emotion as Milwaukee’s JJ Panoske broke a 58-all stalemate with a wide-open 3 pointer with under five seconds left to give UWM its second consecutive win in the Nutter Center dropping WSU by a 61-58 decision.
Panoske’s 3 pointer came after Milwaukee went over eight minutes without a field goal. The Raiders were pressing on the final possession. Steve McWhorter faced a double team from WSU, but easily found Panoske wide open from the wing.
“We had a timeout left and the plan was to see how it was going and I thought we had them spread. You would think at the last play, they weren’t going to be nearly as aggressive,” UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. “I thought JJ did a nice job of catching it, didn’t rush it, faked the pass, froze the defender and made a nice shot that was an incredible shot.”
Milwaukee (13-16, 8-7) is not eligible for any postseason tournaments after an Academic Progress Report violation. WSU (11-18, 3-12) matched its program’s longest losing streak at eight games.
“Those kids deserve an incredible amount of credit,” Wright State head coach Billy Donlon said. “The record is a reflection of me, not those kids. Their heart, their determination, their grit, to find a way to have the resolve as every single game has been the same way for eight games.”
Milwaukee’s Matt Tiby, a guy who clearly frustrated the Raiders and their fans Thursday night, scored a career-high 24 points leading the Panthers. Wright State’s Michael Karena led WSU with 15 points.
“This conference season, he has played the best out of anyone in the league,” Jeter said about Tiby. “He started off slow but has really turned on. He has been difficult to handle because he is playing well inside and out.”
The Raiders climbed back into the game after trailing by as many as eight points in the second half. WSU used a mixture of a zone defense and a trap, which bothered Milwaukee up until the final possession.
Milwaukee missed its final six free throws, helping the Raiders climb back into the game.
Tiby and Karena went toe to toe inside for much of Thursday’s game. Both players were jabbing each other down low when Karena was called for an offensive foul with WSU down 58-51 with 3:33 left. The call drew the ire of Donlon who was whistled for a technical foul after he punched the scorers table.
“He cares about us,” Karena said about Donlon’s technical foul. “But it was a bulls— call, but we have to do whatever we have to do to get back in the game.”
Wright State then went on a 7-0 run, knotting the game at 58-all with 22 seconds left on a Karena free throw.
Despite Tiby’s strong start, Wright State held a 16-12 lead eight minutes into the game. Tiby had 10 of Milwaukee’s first 12 points. After the Raiders led 20-17 in the first half, Milwaukee countered with a 9-0 run to go up six.
Karena answered Milwaukee’s run sparking a 8-0 run to close out the half for the Raiders. Wright State held a 28-26 halftime advantage. Tiby led all scorers through the first half with 13 points.
With Illinois-Chicago’s loss to Green Bay Thursday night, the winner of the Raiders’ matchup versus UIC Saturday will host a first-round contest in the Horizon League Tournament next Tuesday.
“We’re in a two-game set with UIC with Tuesday being the most significant of the two,” Donlon said.
