Vin Baker Jr.'s breakout game leads UWM to thrilling comeback win over Oakland

Déjà vu was not lacking at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Saturday night, with callbacks spanning both a few days and a few decades.

Milwaukee found itself in the same situation as it did just five days prior against Green Bay, up by three and playing defense in the waning seconds.

Panthers head coach Bart Lundy said in the wake of the loss to the Phoenix on Monday that he wished he would have told his team to foul. It would have sent Green Bay to the line for two shots rather than getting a chance to tie with a three, which they hit to send the game to overtime.

On Saturday at the Panther Arena, Milwaukee (18-8, 12-4 Horizon League) again led by three needing a stop to close out the win. The Panthers, this time not presented with a clear opportunity to foul, didn’t.

Same process. Different result.

A three at the buzzer by the Golden Grizzlies’ Trey Townsend was no good, allowing the Panthers to claw out an 80-77 overtime win.

“They’ve got the ball coming in with 22 seconds left,” Lundy said. “That’s just too much time. And then their guard, Jalen Moore, he’s made a ton of baskets and he’s made them at the end of games, and been four-point plays. He’s unbelievable at getting fouled at the wrong time and making the three… I just felt like if we go into this thing and we’re gonna foul with 22 seconds, we’re gonna do it at the wrong time.

“Luckily he missed.”

BOX SCORE:UWM 80, Detroit Mercy 77 (overtime)

Then, there was a callback to a different era of basketball on State Street and Vel Phillips Avenue/Fourth Street in Milwaukee – though on the other side of the street from where the Panthers took the floor Saturday – as someone named Vin Baker took over the game with his athleticism for the home team.

This time it was Vin Baker Jr., the son of the former Bucks star and current assistant coach, who single-handedly swung the game in Milwaukee's favor.

Baker, a lightly-used reserve much of the season who averaged just 6.4 minutes per game coming in, tied his career high with 16 points and poured in basket after basket near the rim during a comeback effort after the Panthers found themselves unable to cut into Oakland's double-digit lead most of the night.

The fact that the Panthers even found themselves in a foul-or-don’t-foul situation Saturday was remarkable. UWM led for just over one minute during regulation, trailing by double digits the majority of the game, as Oakland (11-16, 9-7) rained in a parade of threes and generally broke down a Panthers defense missing its best perimeter defender, Markeith Browning.

Lundy said after the game Browning's ankle injury, which he suffered in a win against Detroit Mercy on Thursday, was "pretty severe" and the optimistic end of his timetable to return would be "a couple weeks".

Milwaukee trailed by 10 at halftime as the Grizzlies shot 70% from three, 58.1% from the field overall and hit all seven of their free throws. That lead grew as large as 12 early in the second half and was 11 with 10 minutes remaining.

But BJ Freeman, one of four Panthers to score in double figures with 15 points, hit a three to jumpstart the comeback.

Baker scored seven straight points for Milwaukee and had nine overall in the final eight minutes, 49 seconds as the Panthers closed on an 18-7 run to force overtime.

“There was an emphasis on stopping BJ tonight,” Baker said. “A lot of the guys were doubling him on some of the plays and I saw in their zone there were a lot of gaps that I could attack. Just where I can use my athleticism and my passing ability to get in the middle and create for my teammates or for myself.”

That athleticism was on full display with the play of the game by Baker as he entered a play near the rim from the weak side and rose up for a block that might as well have doubled as a volleyball kill with just over five minutes to play in the second half. The ball came down to Freeman, who went coast-to-coast for a layup that drew Milwaukee within one for the first time since Oakland led, 5-4.

“Vin’s block was unbelievable,” Lundy said. “One of the assistants, he turned around because he saw the play and saw he missed a play. He turned around mad and then heard the crowd go wild. That’s how good the block was and how good he recovered because it wasn’t even his man.”

More bounciness came to the Panthers’ aid minutes later when Ahmad Rand tied the contest with an alley-oop from Justin Thomas with 1:30 to play in the second half. Rand tied Baker for the team lead with 16 points and Thomas added 13.

A Baker layup opened the scoring for the Panthers in overtime, then Freeman, who struggled shooting most of the game, canned a go-ahead three with 2:22 left.

Those would be the final points for either side the rest of the way. After closing regulation with six consecutive stops on defense to shut out the Grizzlies over the final 4:38, the Panthers strung together five stops in the final 3:30.

“It’s just execution and locking in,” Baker said. “Basketball is a game of runs and our team knows that so we just emphasize our response. Just staying together and fighting through adversity.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Vin Baker Jr.'s breakout game leads UWM past Oakland