UWM slips up, upset in OT as UWGB wins its first game since Dec. 14

What most expected to be a two-game breather for UW-Milwaukee in the midst of the Horizon League schedule turned out to be anything but.

After barely squeaking past last-place IUPUI on the road last week, the Panthers suffered a stunning setback in overtime to similarly moribund UW-Green Bay, 80-79, on Monday night at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

The Phoenix, which entered 2-22, rode a pair of clutch shots from junior guard Davin Zeigler – a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation to tie it and a long jumper with just under a second to play in overtime – to its first victory since Dec 10.

"It goes back to our edge, how I prepared them. We didn’t have the edge we usually have," said coach Bart Lundy after a lengthy and animated meeting with his players following the loss. "Maybe having IUPUI and Green Bay at this point in the season isn’t good for us.

"Nothing against those guys; Green Bay deserved to win this game. One thousand percent, they deserved to win it."

Green Bay hit 11 of its 16 three-pointers in the final 25 minutes, and none was bigger than Zeigler's from the top of the key and a few steps beyond the arc as time wound down in regulation.

The Panthers (16-8, 10-4) were in position to salt the game away not long before that following a three-point play by BJ Freeman (game-high 28 points) with 31 seconds remaining.

After the Phoenix missed a three on the other end, Freeman stole the ball out of the hands of Brock Heffner after he grabbed the offensive rebound and Elijah Jamison was fouled with 11.4 seconds on the clock.

But he missed the front end of the bonus, and UWM elected not to foul when Green Bay collected the rebound.

Then Zeigler made the Panthers pay.

"If it’s under 6 seconds I would generally foul," Lundy explained. "We have been very good at contesting threes so I’ve leaned on that with this group, and it’s worked for us not to foul. But I didn’t take the timeout when Elijah was on the free-throw line. I would only do it coming out of a timeout. I wouldn’t do it on the fly.

"Probably should have fouled. But he made a heck of a shot."

Green Bay interim coach Freddie Owens said he was surprised UWM didn't foul.

"I was actually trying to say to get one up quick or get a quick score because I thought they would," he said. "Fortunately for us they didn’t, and we were able to step up and get a clean look and knock it down."

Freeman scored UWM's first six points in overtime, with his layup giving the Panthers a 77-75 lead with 2:00 left.

A three by Randy Tucker gave the lead back to Green Bay at 78-77, then with 12.1 seconds remaining Jamison stepped up and hit a pair of free throws.

But again, the Phoenix had the answer as Zeigler (18 points) drained a long jumper from the left wing with 1.3 seconds left.

"He has an incredible ability to get his shot off against anybody," Owens said of Zeigler. "He’s quick-twitch, he’s fast and he can stop on a dime and get into his shot. It’s been an up-and-down year for him, and I’m so proud of that guy because he’s stuck through adversity."

A baseball pass from Kentrell Pullian made it to Freeman on the other end, but Freeman's three rimmed out and UWM dropped its first game to its in-state rival since Feb. 15, 2020.

"It’s the little things," Lundy said. "On the last play we got our matchups mixed up. Not that BJ couldn’t guard him, but it wasn’t his matchup.

"You get what you ask for."

Owens, meanwhile, couldn't have asked for anything more personally.

Named Green Bay's interim coach after Will Ryan was fired on Jan. 24, the former Wisconsin Badgers guard had this game circled on his calendar as a Milwaukee native and Milwaukee Washington graduate.

He estimated 60 of the program's 75 complimentary tickets for the game were distributed to his family and friends, who were treated to a big celebration at mid-court and several fist pumps by Owens in the aftermath.

"Words can’t describe it," he said. "Never in a million years did I think I would be coaching and getting my first win coaching Division I basketball back where it all started. Obviously hat’s off to Milwaukee – they’ve done a heck of a job getting this program turned around and they’re building something special here.

"But for our guys to be able to come in here and compete and walk out with a win, considering how the season’s been going and with the coaching change, it’s huge. I can’t thank those guys enough for how hard and how well they played."

Markeith Browning II had 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for UWM, while Green Bay converted 14 Panthers turnovers into 17 points on the other end.

UWM next hosts Detroit Mercy and scoring machine Antoine Davis on Thursday, then Oakland on Saturday.

"Hopefully this group can learn from it," Lundy said. "I think they would agree we’ve lost our edge over the last week and what took us so long to get out of the locker room is we talked about how do we get our edge back? It’s a game that pivots on a few plays and you need to be prepared to make those few plays.

"It’s got to start in practice. That’s where we lost it – in practice, our preparation. But that comes back to me. I’ve tiptoed around some things. We’ve been winning. Had a couple road games that were tough, we battled. But I’ve let our cracks open up, and it all comes back to me.

"I’ve got to get them back on point."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UWM slips up, upset in OT as UWGB wins its first game since Dec. 14