The Milwaukee Panther men’s basketball team entered the Horizon League Tournament as the lowest seed in the field. They’ve become a real story after a pair of victories as they await the winner of Sunday afternoon’s battle between Green Bay and UIC.
The Panthers moved into the semifinals of the tournament with a 43-41 win over second seeded Valparaiso in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Milwaukee (10-23) got 11 points and nine rebounds from Cody Wichmann in the victory.
Valparaiso (24-8) played without Horizon League Player of the Year, Alec Peters, who was out with a stress fracture in his right foot. Peters was averaging 23 points and 10.1 rebounds a game. Without him, the Crusaders had season lows in field goal percentage (31.9), made field goals (15) and points in a half (12). The 12-points by Valpo in the first half were the fewest allowed by the Panthers to an NCAA Division 1 opponent.
The Panthers will face the winner of today’s quarterfinal game between #3 seeded Green Bay and #6 seeded Illinois-Chicago in Monday’s semifinals.
Green Bay is now the highest seed remaining in the men’s Horizon League field. Top-seeded Oakland was also upset, falling to Youngstown State 81-80 on Saturday night.