Stetson 85, UWM 67: Hot start turns into ugly loss for ice cold Panthers at Sunshine Slam

UW-Milwaukee started fast but faded even faster. 

In a rematch of last season’s postseason College Basketball Invitational showdown, Stetson exacted some revenge on Milwaukee by erasing a double-digit deficit in the early minutes and turning it into a 85-67 blowout win in the semifinals of the Sunshine Slam at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.

The Panthers saw a 16-5 lead turn into a deficit of as many as 17 in the first half and then never drew within single digits over the final 20 minutes in an ugly performance.

Box score:Stetson 85, UWM 67

"It was like we just gave in," Panthers head coach Bart Lundy said. "Maybe it was part them, part us, but we’ve got to do a better job of being focused defensively."

Early on, BJ Freeman’s three-pointer put the Panthers up 14-2 with 15:09 to play, then a Darrius Duffy basket made it 16-5 30 seconds later. 

It all fell apart from there. 

The Panthers went ice cold on a series of three-pointers and contested jumpers. On defense, the turnovers Milwaukee forced in the opening minutes dried up, and the Hatters used those possessions to heat up. 

Twelve consecutive points put Stetson in front, and the Hatters saw their lead balloon to as large as 39-22 over an extended 34-6 run. The Hatters also outscored the Panthers 20-2 at one point of that overarching run; during that 34-6 run over a stretch of 10 minutes 20 seconds the Panthers made just two field goals while the Hatters missed only three and had two empty possessions.

Jalen Blackmon was a problem for the Panthers early on, scoring 14 of his 22 points in the first half in a variety of ways, from getting in the paint to stepback threes with a hand in his face.

The second half belonged to Hatters forward Aubi Gateretse, who scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the period, including six points right out of the break. Gateretse was an unstoppable force down low, shooting 12 for 13 while pulling in 11 rebounds go along with four blocks.

"He was fantastic," Lundy said. "He sets real screens and he rolls hard to the rim. Doesn’t do anything fancy but rebounds on both sides of the ball. He was really good."

Milwaukee simply had no answer for him on defense, and its offense wasn't much sharper.

Freeman paced Milwaukee with 20 points on 6-for-12 three-point shooting and was by far the team’s most consistent shooter and distributor. Still, though, he couldn’t come close to replicating his career-high 43 point performance in the Panthers’ 87-83 win over Stetson in the CBI, a game played in the same arena. 

The Hatters threw double-teams at Freeman throughout and there was minimal help elsewhere to make them pay. The Panthers shot just 35.7% overall and, outside of Freeman, were just 4 for 22 from three. 

"We had great shots, we just didn’t make any of them," Lundy said. "You get down and you start trying to do too much and basing it all on our offense."

Milwaukee has yet to find a groove on offense this year, with capable scorers struggling to find much efficiency. The Panthers shot just 29% (39 for 117) from three coming in, a figure which only worsened against the Hatters. From deep, Elijah Jamison is 3 for 11 this year, Erik Pratt is 6 for 18, Kentrell Pullian 3 for 22, Markeith Browning 1 for 10 and Langston Wilson 1 for 7. 

For the season, the Panthers’ field goal percentage has dipped below 39%.

Lundy's frustration lies more with his team's defense right now, though, which was unable to generate nearly the number of stops needed Monday.

"We’ve never been a great offensive team," he said. "We should be better defensively. Our numbers are so upside-down right now that we need to figure out how good basketball is played." 

Milwaukee will face Siena at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to close its time in the Sunshine Slam.