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Defense Evaporates at UWM

12/21/02
by John C. Thomas
The Loyola defense all but disappeared Saturday afternoon as the UW-Milwaukee Panthers scored at will in a 100-80 drubbing in Milwaukee. Dylan Page had 32 points-many of them coming on easy layups right under the basket-as UWM scored 64 points in the second half. The Ramblers fall to 4-5 overall, 0-1 in the Horizon League.

The Ramblers fell behind from the get-go. With eight and a half minutes left in the half, UWM led 31-10. But Loyola showed a lot of fire by coming back to reach a 36-36 tie on a 26-5 run to close out the half capped by a Vas Tsimliaridis buzzer-beating three pointer.

The tie quickly evaporated in the second half as UWM began the half with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. UWM completely broke down the Loyola defense, especially on the interior, and the Panthers' press rattled the Ramblers. UWM took another 20 point lead, but Loyola closed to within nine with not quite three minutes left to play. But the Panthers scored the final 11 points in the game for the triple-digit win. UWM's second half scoring set a school record for a half.

David Bailey led Loyola with 25 points on 7-of-20 shooting, 4-of-10 from behind the arc. Terrance Whiters added 17 points, Vas Tsimpliaridis had 13, and Corey Minnifield led the Ramblers with eight rebounds coming off the bench.

For the third consecutive game, the Ramblers were outrebounded by double digits, this time 49-38. For the third consecutive game, Loyola lost the battle of turnovers, this time 22-12. And the Ramblers' defense is disappearing at an alarming rate. Since their excellent performance against Valparaiso two weeks ago, Loyola's defense has given up 75, 75, 80 and 100 points in successive games.

Everyone knew that the hellish string on the road wasn't going to be easy. It's a lot more difficult without any defense or production in the paint. Loyola's frontcourt tandem of Demetrius Williams and Paul McMillan combined for only 12 points and nine rebounds while their UWM counterparts scored 54 and captured 16 boards.

Unless the frontcourt can come alive against three excellent non-conference teams in Charlotte, the nightmare of an 0-6 road trip might completely undo the season and put the Ramblers in a 4-8 hole that might be too much to overcome.