UWM Panthers Face Challenges this Season

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Photo by Deb Logan via Milwaukee Panthers - mkepanthers.com

Bart Lundy

Bart Lundy

The 2023-24 season was always going to be more difficult for Bart Lundy and the Milwaukee Men’s Basketball team. Taking over as head coach last year, Bart Lundy led UWM to a 22-12 record and its first postseason berth in eight years. 

For 2023-24, Horizon League preseason poll voters picked the Panthers as second-place finishers in an ultra-competitive conference.

When the Shepherd Express asked Lundy how his team would adjust from being a conference underdog to transitioning to one of the league favorites, the second-year coach responded confidently, saying, “I don’t know if you can put more pressure than we put on ourselves.”

Whether it was the increased stress or just a sophomore slump, the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign for UWM did not live up to those expectations. Through a month of play, the Panthers had just one victory over a Division I opponent (against Siena, ranked 350th of 362 teams in the NCAA NET Rankings). 

Coach Lundy avoided making excuses but highlighted a few obstacles his team faced. “It's been a little bit of everything," Lundy said of the team’s early-season issues. "It's been health, chemistry, attitude, effort.”

Absent from the Court

The Panthers dealt with the absence of a few key contributors in non-conference play. Washington transfer Langston Wilson missed a trio of non-conference tussles while All-Horizon League First Team pick B.J. Freeman was out for six games with a back issue. UWM also lost sophomore guard Zach Howell to a season-ending shoulder injury.

Then, the squad faced the dismissal of junior guard Markeith Browning II. The longest-tenured team member was the Panthers’ third-leading scorer. The move was “an internal decision,” according to Coach Lundy, who added that it was “done with the best interests of the program in mind.”

But the greatest challenge Lundy and the Panthers faced was integrating seven new transfers into the team while replacing Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Ahmad Rand. 

Last year’s UWM squad, populated by fresh faces, jelled quickly. But this season—with the pressure of being a Horizon League favorite looming—the Panthers have taken longer to find their stride.

A tough road win over Big West contenders UC-Davis on December 9 seemed like a turning point. Four days later, a defeat to Longwood left Coach Lundy fuming.

Lackadaisical Mindset?

Lundy did not mince words, calling out the lackadaisical mindset of UWM’s returning players. “Our old guys who were hungry last year, they've been entitled and haven't worked as hard as they needed to and haven’t kept our culture where it needs to be. And we need more from them. We need more guys that will do whatever the team needs. Not whatever they need; whatever the team needs.”

Since that loss, the Panthers have been a different team. Milwaukee gutted out an overtime win over Chattanooga on December 22—a game Lundy’s squad led 16 points in the first half. Many coaches would be disappointed by nearly ceding a sizeable lead, but the second-year head coach noticed his team’s progress.

“There have been a lot of things we've had to deal with, and I think they started to grow up a little bit and play together and play the right way. We're plenty talented. We just have to do things the right way. I feel like we're starting to trend that way."

UWM has won five of their last six contests, improving to 9-8 overall and, more importantly, 4-2 in Horizon League play—just a game out of first place. 

Milwaukee’s improvement coincided with guard Erik Pratt entering the starting lineup. The transfer from Texas A&M earned his first Division I start against Longwood and has averaged 19.3 points per game across seven contests since then.

The redshirt junior provides a consistent secondary scoring threat to Freeman that the team lacked last year, and his increased minutes have given the offense a notable boost. Before Pratt became a starter, UWM had an Adjusted Offensive Efficiency (ADJO) of 105.7 in eight DI games. With Pratt in the lineup, Milwaukee’s ADJO has jumped to 110.8 ADJO. 

Despite this offensive improvement, Lundy’s team still needs to improve on the defensive end. The Panthers are 349th in the country in defensive efficiency per Ken Pomeroy’s latest ratings and are more than seven points worse per 100 possessions versus last year’s squad.

There are no nights off in the Horizon League this year. Eight of the 11 teams in the league have a record of .500 or better or league play, with just two games separating first from eighth place in the standings nearing the halfway mark in the conference schedule. 

UWM came within a win of a share of the regular season conference title a year ago. While the Horizon League as deep as it has ever been, the Panthers are finding cohesion as they look to play their best basketball down the stretch.