Oakland 83, UWM 61: Rest leads to rust as Panthers blown out in Horizon League reboot

The bumps and bruises are mostly healed for UW-Milwaukee’s men’s basketball team.

The Panthers’ game?

That’s a little rusty.

Having gone 17 days since last suiting up against an opponent – the second-longest such stretch for the program since moving to the Division I level – UWM struggled in every aspect in a game it led for only the first 30 seconds before eventually falling in humbling fashion, 83-61, at Oakland on Thursday night.

The Panthers (8-5, 2-1 Horizon League) shot a season-low 37.1% against a 2-3 zone while allowing the Golden Grizzlies to connect on 50.9% of their shots from the floor, a figure that matched the previous season high reached by an opponent as all five of Oakland's starters finished with double-figure point totals.

UWM also was more than doubled up at the free-throw line (8 for 9 vs. 17 for 23) and had 15 turnovers cashed in for 23 points by an Oakland team that had lost 11 of its 13 games on the season coming in and had dropped both its games in conference play.

"I think they learned that you've got to guard people," coach Bart Lundy said. "We've been guarding people all year. We'd had maybe a stretch here and there where we struggled. But for the most part we had been guarding, and we didn't do that tonight.

"They were the tougher team."

Ahmad Rand scored all 12 of his points in the first half and that total led the Panthers, who were playing their first Horizon League game since Dec. 3.

Jaylen Johnson was the only other player to finish in double figures for UWM, scoring 10 points.

UWM struggled against Oakland's 2-3 zone from the outset while at the same time failing to contain long-range marksman Blake Lampman, who scored 14 of his 20 points and hit 4 of his 5 three-pointers in the first half.

The Panthers trailed, 43-39, at halftime only to see the Golden Grizzlies (3-11, 1-2) score 10 straight points right out of the gate and 13 of the first 15.

"It was all defensive," Lundy said. "They said, 'We're just going to spread you out and drive you,' and that's what they did. If you don't get stops then you're going to play against a set zone, and we played against a set zone all night."

UWM cut the deficit to single digits at 62-54 on a steal and driving layup by Kentrell Pullian with 10 minutes 47 seconds remaining in the game.

But Oakland responded with six quick points and a 9-3 run that made it 71-57, and the Panthers failed to score over the final 6:10 of the game.

"We just didn't guard anyone," Lundy said. "You can't play like that, you can't defend like that and you can't expect any other outcome than this if you do."

UWM had last played on Dec. 11, with its last game against a Division I opponent coming on Dec. 6.

The Panthers had been scheduled to play at Rhode Island on Dec. 22 but saw that game cancelled due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the Rams program.

UWM next plays at Detroit Mercy at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Oakland 83, UWM 61: Rest leads to rust as Panthers blown out