MKE Basketball: Panthers Lose a Thrilling Opener in the Little Apple

 

Two weeks after their season was supposed to start, the Milwaukee Panthers finally took the floor on Friday night. Instead of their planned opener in Milwaukee, they visited the “Little Apple” of Manhattan, Kansas to face Kansas State and Bruce Weber, a 1978 Milwaukee alum. In a battle of teams figuring themselves out early in this season, Milwaukee pushed Kansas State to the brink before falling 76-75.

Milwaukee has eleven new players on their roster (the second highest total in the country), but Coach Pat Baldwin elected to start the 2020-21 campaign with four familiar faces to Panthers fans: Te’Jon Lucas, Josh Thomas, Amir Allen and Courtney Brown Jr. The fifth starter was DeAndre Gholston, a JUCO transfer from Tallahassee CC.

The Panthers came out roaring in this game, taking a commanding 7-0 lead in the opening two minutes of the contest. Te’Jon Lucas attacked the basket hard, and Josh Thomas stepped right into a beautiful three-point basket. The Kansas State defense tightened, and the Panthers’ offense got sloppy. There were forced shots, errant passes, and the Wildcats went on a 14-0 run that lasted nearly seven minutes. It was a frustrating stretch of basketball to watch for Milwaukee as they looked for someone to stop the bleeding. Finally, with 11:18 to go in the first half, DeAndre Gholston buried a deep triple to get Milwaukee’s offense rolling again.

Gholston’s basket appeared to take the lid off the basket, and the pressure off the offense. They began to move the basketball and create easier looks for all players on the floor. This allowed Milwaukee to retake the lead at 24-23 with 6:05 to go in the first half, the product of a 7-0 run.

The first game fatigue, perhaps attributed to an absence of time in the gym, showed in the middle of the first half. Perhaps the clearest indicator of this was when the Wildcats were able to drive easily for a transition bucket, and Milwaukee had multiple players with their hands on their knees, forcing Pat Baldwin to call a timeout.

Kansas State was able to get back ahead by seven points with about ninety seconds to go in the first half, as the Wildcats had success attacking the basket and playing inside. Davion Bradford, a 7’0” freshman center for Kansas State had a large impact on both sides of the court, impacting shots and finishing inside. The Wildcats would take a 38-31 lead to the break after DeAndre Gholston’s last second shot, a clean look, rimmed out.

Milwaukee started the second half out strong, scoring the first five points. Kansas State responded with another run offensively, ballooning their lead to eight. The lapses defensively that were present in the first half reoccurred, as the Wildcats were able to get great looks with relative ease.

The Panthers were resilient and did not roll over. Big baskets by Donovan Newby, Grant Coleman and DeAndre Gholston allowed Milwaukee to stay in the game, and with 8:21 to go Courtney Brown Jr. hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 57. A three by Tafari Simms gave Milwaukee a 60-59 edge, their first lead of the half with just under eight minutes to play.

Kansas State used their length to regain the lead, and they would not relinquish that advantage. With 1:20 to play, Rudi Williams hit a huge three to give Kansas State a 74-67 advantage. Coming out of the time out, Courtney Brown Jr. responded with a big bucket for the Panthers. After Davion Bradford and Te’Jon Lucas exchanged two-point possessions, Kansas State missed the front-end of a one and one. Grant Coleman tossed up a three and drew contact, sending the Panthers to the free throw line. The freshman from Mahomet, Illinois connected on all three free throws, bringing the score to 76-74 with 28.1 seconds to play.

After another front end was missed by Kansas State, Milwaukee secured the rebound and looked to even the score. Courtney Brown Jr. tossed up a missed three-point shot, but the Panthers secured the rebound. Te’Jon Lucas pump faked and drew a foul with 6.3 seconds to play. Trailing by two, he had a chance to even the score. The first shot was missed, to the shock of the announcers and Milwaukee fans everywhere. Lucas’ second shot was good, but Milwaukee still trailed by a point.

The Panthers trapped the inbounds pass into the corner, but the Kansas State guard escaped and took nearly five seconds off the clock before reaching the free throw line. Nijel Pack missed the first, and he attempted to intentionally miss the second. His intentional miss grazed the rim, but the officials ruled that he did not. This gave Milwaukee one last chance for a Hail Mary, Christian Laettner-esque play, but the height of Kansas State was an issue one last time. Bradford was face guarding Coleman, and he forced the inbounds pass to be intercepted near midcourt, sealing Kansas State’s victory.

DeAndre Gholston led Milwaukee in scoring with 15 points. Grant Coleman (14), Te'Jon Lucas (11) and Josh Thomas (10) all finished in double digits. The Panthers were 22/53 from the floor and 10/23 from three-point territory. 

Davion Bradford led Kansas State and all scorers with 18 points. He was a major impact in this game, as the Panthers struggled against the inside presence of Kansas State throughout the night. Selton Miguel (17), Rudi Williams (16), Nijel Pack (12) and Mike McGuirl (11) all reached double figures for the 'Cats as well. They shot the same amount of field goals and three-pointers as Milwaukee, hitting 29 FGs and 10 threes. The difference in scoring was made up at the free-throw line, as Milwaukee dominated in both attempts (28-18) and makes (21-8).

TAKEAWAYS

Gholston will Make This Team Go: The JUCO transfer appears to be the offensive weapon that this team needs alongside Te’Jon Lucas. He finished the night with fifteen points on 5/17 shooting, and he scored eight straight points after the team went on a seven-minute drought in the first half. The offensive output in that stretch prevented this game from getting away from Milwaukee. Gholston has a real knack for scoring the basketball, as he showed some tremendous range and an ability to drive to the basket. His scoring threat is extremely important for this team, as it allowed this team to have a chance to win a road game against a Power 5 team despite Te’Jon Lucas shooting 2/10 from the floor.

Rotation Watch: Tafari Simms and Devon Hancock were the first two Panthers off the bench, followed later by Kaleim Taylor and Grant Coleman. Taylor and Simms were the first men off the bench in the second half, followed shortly by Donovan Newby. Coleman, Hancock, Newby, and Taylor are true freshman, while Simms is a JUCO Junior. Hancock never returned after his ninety seconds on the court, his expected second half minutes going to Newby. It appears that Simms, Coleman and Taylor are the early favorites to round out an eight-player rotation, but Newby showed some flashes with his shooting ability (2/3 from deep).

Free Throw “Timeouts”: It will be interesting to see if this trend of free throw “timeouts” continues for Coach Baldwin. During a majority of the free throw attempts Milwaukee had, the other four players would be near the Panthers’ sideline communicating with Coach Baldwin. In an empty arena with limited crowd noise, this is an excellent time for teaching and instruction. It will be interesting to see if this maneuver continues in the ensuing games.

Close Games: Last year, there were 25 games decided by 10 points or less. The 2020-21 count is already at one game after the opener. This was an extremely encouraging performance against a Power 5 team (albeit a struggling one), but you can’t help but wonder if those finishing concerns from last year don’t loom over this team still. At least in this one, they finished with fire as they mounted the comeback and gave themselves a chance to win the game late.

UP NEXT

The Panthers will remain on the road, travelling to Kalamazoo on Sunday. They will face Western Michigan, who is currently 1-2 on the season. The Broncos will host Detroit Mercy on Saturday before welcoming Milwaukee on Sunday. The game will take place at 2:00 PM EST/1:00 PM CST and will be broadcast on ESPN3. The TSR team will be LIVE at University Arena for that game. You can follow Nick (@nbt_hoops42) for Twitter updates and you can check back after the game for a recap and some photos from our own ZT.

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