Alcorn State 61, UW-Milwaukee 57: Losing streak grows to five with Horizon League play looming

The idea is for a team to be hitting its stride heading into conference play.

The UW-Milwaukee Panthers?

They're reeling.

With their Horizon League opener looming in a matter of days, the Panthers allowed what should have been a tuneup game against Alcorn State to turn into an absolute disaster.

They shot just 38.5%, hit only 4 three-pointers, were out-rebounded by five and made far too many mistakes in dropping their fifth consecutive game, 61-57, Sunday afternoon at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Granted, Patrick Baldwin Jr. missed his second consecutive game with a left ankle sprain.

But that shouldn't have mattered against a previously 0-5 Braves team that won't play its first home game until Jan. 15 and is essentially paid big bucks to travel the country to be beaten by various Division I opponents until then.

"It was a great opportunity for us today and we just didn't get it done," said coach Pat Baldwin, whose team dropped to 1-5 and hosts Youngstown State at 7 p.m. Thursday for the teams' Horizon League opener.

"They made the plays they had to and we didn't, whether it was free throws or plays at the rim. We've got to be better, get back to the drawing board and be ready for conference play on Thursday."

Not only was UWM without Baldwin Jr,, but also guards Josh Thomas and Markeith Browning II. Center Samba Kane failed to see action as well.

Thomas, a senior and one of the team's better scorers, was suspended due to conduct detrimental to the team, a penalty that Baldwin didn't indicate would last just one game. Browning, a freshman who's flashed some early promise, was out with a right hand injury while Kane was suffering from turf toe.

As for Baldwin Jr.?

"He's getting better by the day," Baldwin said. "We just wanted to take another day of precaution for him, and hopefully he'll be ready to go by Thursday."

The Panthers could have used the firepower.

Offensively, they were stagnant and had trouble taking care of the basketball. On the defensive end they failed to close out possessions, leading to eight Braves offensive rebounds and a plus-11 advantage on shots in the first half.

Despite that, Alcorn State shot just 25.7% and didn't attempt a free throw.

UWM took a slim 23-20 lead into halftime thanks in large part to a terrific first half from big man Joey St. Pierre, whose nine points and eight rebounds were both game highs.

He did a nice job of using his 6-foot-10, 275-pound frame to carve out space in the paint, scoring on an alley-oop and then a pair of thunderous dunks to provide at least a little excitement for the post-Thanksgiving crowd.

A Donovan Newby layup to start the second half gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the game at 30-22. But the Braves scored 10 of the next 11 — including eight straight from diminutive guard Paul King — to jump back in front by a point.

The lead exchanged hands six more times until a jumper with 7 minutes 12 seconds remaining put the Braves ahead to stay.

The Panthers' frustrations were summed up perfectly with just about a minute remaining, when Jordan Lathon stole the ball, missed a layup and grabbed the rebound only to have the ball slapped off his knee for the turnover.

The Braves then threw a proverbial touchdown pass over the Panthers' defense for an easy dunk.

UWM got to within four points with 37.9 seconds remaining when Tafari Simms was whistled for a technical foul for grabbing at the ball on an inbounds play.

Then, to cap the day, the Panthers couldn't catch any Braves players to foul and stop the clock in the final 14.6.

DeAndre Gholston scored a team-high 17 points, and St. Pierre finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

"I don't sense panic," Baldwin said of the general feeling in the Panthers' locker room. "There's frustration. I think if it's one game, two games, five games, they don't like to lose.

"What I feel and see and feel in our practices every single day is our guys work extremely hard and I hope that everyone saw from the effort that they really fought for this game.

"They're continuing to work hard and put in the extra work. Now, we've just got to make it happen when the lights turn on."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Milwaukee Panthers lose to Alcorn State, 61-57, as Baldwin Jr. sits