Want a reason to believe in this year’s UWM team? Look no further than their win Friday night.

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UW-Milwaukee guard Themus Fulks (1) shoots a free throw against Wofford in the second half of a Cream City Challenge game Saturday, November 23, 2024, at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. UWM won, 76-74.

The Beeghly Center on the campus of Youngstown State was packed to the gills.

But by the time AJ McKee dribbled out the final seconds of the clock, the Milwaukee Panthers had cleared the place out.

The Panthers, in arguably their biggest game of the season, delivered one of their best performances yet Friday night in Youngstown, Ohio.

In a rowdy environment, Themus Fulks had 21 points and 10 assists, AJ McKee added 20 points and Milwaukee used a furious second-half push to cruise past Youngstown State, 84-74, and position itself to still have a chance at winning the regular season conference title.

BOX SCORE: UWM 84, Youngstown State 74

“It was packed. The whole town was there,” Panthers head coach Bart Lundy said. “They got the biggest building in Youngstown and it was lit up red. The fans were falling out of the rafters. It was a hostile environment.”

With three games to play before the Horizon tournament, the Panthers (19-9, 12-5) trail first-place Cleveland State by just one game. That meant that they needed to sweep a challenging road trip this weekend against the Penguins (18-11, 12-6) and second-place Robert Morris.

“We talked about it a little bit after the game,” Lundy said. “We control some of our destiny if we can win out. We need a little help, but not a lot.”

Step one is complete – thanks in large part to two of Milwaukee’s veteran leaders.

Themus Fulks was in complete control

The second half was the Fulks show.

After a three-point prayer from Youngstown State’s Nico Galette was answered at the first-half buzzer to send the teams to the locker room tied at 44, Fulks played the role of point guard maestro to turn the game in the visitors’ favor.

Fulks spurred a 6-0 run to give Milwaukee a 51-45 lead with a fastbreak layup off a defensive…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/want-reason-believe-years-uwm-053004920.html

Author : Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Publish date : 2025-02-22 05:30:00

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