UWM 88, Oakland 78: Everything comes together in Panthers' most complete victory of the season

This was the UW-Milwaukee team most expected coming into the season.

Despite playing once again without the injured Patrick Baldwin Jr., the Panthers put together what was easily their best and most well-rounded performance of the season Thursday night.

Josh Thomas led five double-figure scorers with a 22-point outing and the defense clamped down to limit a talented Oakland team to just 31.3% shooting with the net result being one of the best victories of coach Pat Baldwin's five-year tenure, an 88-78 romp at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Vin Baker Jr. and Jordan Lathon each added 16 points, Tafari Simms 13 – all in the second half – and DeAndre Gholston 10 as UWM (7-12, 5-5) carved up Oakland's zone defense to the tune of 54% shooting to knock the Golden Grizzlies (13-5, 7-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten in the Horizon League.

"That's our goal," said Baldwin, whose team was blasted at Oakland, 86-65, just 11 days earlier. "You want to play with that passion, that determination and have this result.

"But we also know that each game takes on a new life of its own. We've just got to be ready to go for the next one. Maybe new guys have to step up, although a lot of our guys had great moments tonight."

Added Thomas, the fifth-year senior who's had his ups and downs in his three seasons at UWM: "It's definitely one of the best moments."

It took the Panthers a few minutes to feel their way within the Golden Grizzlies' zone.

But once they did, things quickly clicked.

Baker consistently found the soft spots near the free-throw line and on the baseline, scoring five times in a span of 4 minutes on a variety of flips and short jumpers to help get UWM out in front.

The lead steadily grew with Thomas getting into the act off the bench with his usual array of moves in the lane and – even more important – some stifling defense by the Panthers.

How good was the effort?

Oakland managed to hit one shot over the final 13 minutes 2 seconds of the first half, with only a steady diet of free throws keeping the Panthers' lead from growing larger than 37-23.

"Our preparation," said Thomas when asked what keyed the defensive effort. "We had a lot of guys on our team that assimilated Oakland, and they did a great job and played their parts to a T.

"It was just kind of reverting from practice. It was a great effort in practice this week."

BOX SCORE: UW-Milwaukee 88, Oakland 78

Oakland's press out of intermission caused a brief period of indecisiveness by UWM followed by a run of turnovers as the Panthers' lead shrunk to 40-36.

But Thomas again found a seam in the zone and hit a jumper in the lane to kick-start the offense. Simms took over after that with eight straight points – including consecutive three-pointers – with Lathon then scoring on a layup as UWM's advantage grew to 52-41.

Oakland continued its steady march to the free-throw line as it repeatedly attacked the hoop. UWM did enough offensively to maintain enough breathing room and after Thomas hit a three and Baker scored on a putback the crowd rose to its feet to applaud the effort.

"I love it. I love when I look in the crowd and see Panthers fans with smiles on their faces," said Thomas. "I know everybody in this program wants to have that a little more here. We just want to keep that going.

"I'm excited that everybody else is excited."

The Panthers hit all 12 of their free throws in the final 3:36 – key with the Golden Grizzlies pulling to within 84-78 with 42.4 seconds remaining – but eventually Thomas capped the victory in style with a breakaway dunk in the closing seconds.

Thomas hit 10 of 13 shots, tying him for the fifth-best shooting performance in school history, and Baker went 8 for 14 to help bolster the Panthers' second consecutive game in which they hit better than half their shots.

They also failed to give into the temptation to throw up shot after shot from beyond the arc – a common failing against the zone – and made the most of their 7-for-17 effort.

"That is a key, to not fall in love with (the three)," Baldwin said. "We talk about liking the three, loving the paint. Going back to the first time we played them we saw some areas we thought we could attack, and the middle was one of them.

"Josh is very good there and Tafari is, too. Vin started off really hot early, too, so we had some good looks. Against the zone you don't want to be baited. But you don't want to be afraid of it, either."

Next up is Detroit Mercy at 2 p.m. Saturday, meaning a rematch with Antoine Davis – the scoring wiz who poured in 39 points in an 85-60 Titans drubbing on Jan. 7.

"He's a great player, so I expect him to be great," Thomas said. Detroit has lost three straight since beating UWM, including a 70-63 decision at UW-Green Bay on Thursday.

"We just want to limit the rest of the team and try our best to defend him and stick with our details and goals that we go over in practice. I think we should be OK. We just want to go get a win."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Milwaukee does it on both ends in big victory over Oakland