Fiserv Forum Welcomes College Basketball

The Downtown Milwaukee venue hosted six men’s college basketball teams to the hardwood for the MKE Tip-Off.

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Fserv Forum has hosted the NBA Finals, NHL exhibition contests and the Republican National Convention. It is the home court for the Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette University men’s basketball.

But the multi-purpose arena had never accommodated regular-season college basketball for a team other than the Golden Eagles. That changed on Sunday when Fiserv Forum welcomed six men’s college basketball teams to the hardwood for the MKE Tip-Off.

The triple-header presented by Chicago-based marketing agency Intersport featured the hometown Milwaukee Panthers against the Akron Zips, Northwestern vs. Georgia Tech, and finished with Loyola Chicago playing San Francisco.

This full day of college hoops built on last month’s Cream City Challenge at Panther Arena, attracting passionate out-of-town fans and providing a full day of scintillating college basketball action for local supporters.

100-point Panther performance

UWM scored an impressive 46 first-half points in a comfortable mid-week victory over Green Bay. The Panthers easily surpass that total with their hot start at Fiserv Forum on Sunday. 

Milwaukee hit five three-pointers in the first seven minutes, opening up an early double-digit lead over Akron. The Zips kept pace at times, but the MAC squad struggled to slow down Milwaukee from deep. In the opening 20 minutes, the Horizon League team hit 11 shots from beyond the arc—four from Erik Pratt.

Pratt, Milwaukee’s second-leading scorer last year, missed eight games this season due to personal reasons. The Green Bay contest marked his return to the court.

“Erik has really helped us,” Milwaukee head coach Bart Lundy said. “We were struggling to see the threes go in, and he's come off the bench and hit threes right off the bat. When other guys see it go in, it helps alleviate that pressure.”

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Following UWM’s three-point barrage in the first half, Akron approached the second stanza with renewed defensive intensity. The Zips held the Panthers scoreless for over three minutes early in the half, reducing the deficit to five points. “They were packing it in the first half,” Lundy said, “that's why we got all the attempts. In the second half, they took away the three.

“Then, mid-second half, they amped up the pressure. They got aggressive. They turned us over a couple of times because they went from letting us operate to overplaying everything. That's when they cut it to five.”

Controlling the Momentum

With Akron controlling the momentum, Milwaukee leaned on its veteran players. Fifth-year point guard Themus Fulks exploited the Zips’ schematic shift by attacking the basket off the dribble. Fulks led the Panthers with 16 second-half points (14 in the paint), finishing the afternoon with a team-high 23.

“If they're gonna stick and pressure, we gotta drive it,” Lundy noted, “and that's when Themus got loose.”

Fulks’ burst ignited several key scoring runs for Milwaukee. A 10-0 streak mid-way through the stanza extended UWM’s lead to 15 points after Akron's early push. The de facto home team finished the game with a 9-0 burst to hit 100 points for the afternoon in a 100-81 triumph. “I just think we're playing really tough, and we're getting a lot of people excelling in their roles,” Lundy added, “That's what a good team does.”

The Panthers moved to 8-4 on the year and stayed a perfect 7-0 when playing in Wisconsin.

Wildcats Ace their Test

Georgia Tech entered Sunday without a victory over a power conference team this season. Northwestern aimed to build off an upset win over in-state rivals Illinois. 

The Chicago school controlled the momentum from the opening tip, beginning the game with an 11-0 run. The Wildcats capitalized on Tech’s sloppy play in the first period, forcing 1o turnovers.

Despite Northwestern’s dominance, the Yellow Jackets battled back. Lance Terry—Georgia Tech’s leading scorer—hit a pair of tough threes late in the half, cutting the deficit to five points at the intermission. But the second half began like the first, as Northwestern used a 7-0 run to open up a 12-point advantage. The Wildcats lead ballooned to 22 points before the Big Ten program settled for a 71-60 win.

Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire lamented his team’s inconsistent performance: "The first four minutes of each half, we were outscored 18 to nothing. You’re putting yourself in a hole. In the first half, we fought ourselves out of the hole. In the second half, we put ourselves right back in a hole.”

Three players scored at least 16 points for a balanced Northwestern offense. Brooks Barnhizer led all scorers with 20 points as the Wildcats improved to 8-3.

Northwestern coach Chris Collins praised his team's effort while acknowledging the challenges of balancing non-conference travel with an exhausting final exam schedule. “When you're at a school like Northwestern, and these guys are student-athletes, you're coming off finals week,” Collins said. “So there were exams, papers, projects, and guys are trying to mix that with the basketball. I’m proud of my guys and the way we prepared for this game.”

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A Clash of Mid-Major Titans

The final contest pitted elite mid-major programs as undefeated Loyola Chicago welcomed San Francisco to the Midwest.

Both teams ranked 300th or worse in non-conference strength of schedule, per Ken Pomeroy, emphasizing the importance of this game toward bolstering their at-large resumes.

Stout defense and physical play defined the early proceedings. San Franciso managed just seven points through 12 minutes, marked by a five-minute scoring drought. Fortunately for the Dons, Loyola could not pull away. The Ramblers held a narrow 28-24 lead at the break.

USF’s ability to stay close gave Dons head coach Chris Gerlufsen optimism at halftime. “They had us jumbled up, and it established the tone of the game,” Gerlufsen said. “We wanted to cut into the lead and get to halftime, where we would have a chance to regroup, take a breath, and evaluate the things we were doing on both sides of the ball.”

Gerlufsen’s message resonated with senior guard Malik Thomas, who galvanized the Dons with his electric second-half play. San Francisco needed only eight minutes to double their first-half point total, with Thomas contributing five buckets in that stretch.

Thomas continued to exploit the Loyola defense with his aggressive dribble penetration, and the Ramblers had no answer for his quickness. The USF guard finished with a career-high 35 points—26 in the second period.

“That's the beauty of basketball; it is a 40-minute game,” Gerlufsen added. “Halftime is a great time to make adjustments, to recalibrate. Malik and the rest of our guys bought into the messaging but took ownership of it, too.”

As Thomas powered the Dons, the Ramblers’ issues were self-inflicted. Loyola finished just 15-32 from the free-throw line. In a game decided in the final minutes, those 17 misses proved crucial.

“It ultimately came down to the free throw shooting, if basketball is gonna be that simple [sic].”  Loyola head coach Drew Valentine said.

While Valentine was frustrated by the defeat, he viewed the result as a chance to improve rather than a missed opportunity, saying, “For us to be in this game the way we were shooting free throws, you gotta be positive [sic]. That's a tournament-caliber team. If we're without two of our best players, I feel pretty good about what this group could accomplish this year. I told the team after the game: stay positive, stay connected, and this game can only help us grow.”