The Milwaukee Panthers (10-21, 11-19 ATS, 14-16 O/U) take on the Purdue Boilermakers (25-6, 13-16-2 ATS, 17-14 O/U) in an early season inter-conference bout on Tuesday night. The Panthers recorded a poor 10-21 record last season, finishing ninth in the Horizon League. The Boilermakers logged a dominant 25-6 record and finished 3rd in the Big Ten.
The Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers are in a complete rebuild this season. They brought in a new head coach, Bart Lundy who coached Queens DII school last year. The program lost all of its top scorers from last season including their two players who averaged over 10 PPG. The program has struggled to generate winning seasons in the past five years and is hoping this refresh will lead to future success. The Panthers beat non-DI foe Milwaukee School of Engineering 102-46 on Monday.
The leading returning scorer from last year is Vin Baker Jr. The senior guard didn’t play big minutes but posted solid numbers, averaging 5.1 PPG on 50% shooting along with 3.2 RPG. He only played 10-20 minutes per game but will see a large increase in playing time this year. Coach Lundy is excited to bring in Keon Edwards on a transfer from Nebraska. The sophomore guard saw li mited action in the Big Ten last year, averaging 0.5 points but will now have a chance to show what he can do. Fortunately, the program brought in a proven scorer in Jalen Johnson. The junior forward registered a stellar 16 PPG with Alabama A&M last season and could be the squad’s top scorer.
B.J. made it. That still counts, right? ?? pic.twitter.com/VUl71IRd1C
— Milwaukee Men's Basketball (@MKE_MBB) November 3, 2022
The Panthers are positioned 329th in DI in Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball ratings and were voted to finish ninth in the Horizon League preseason poll. It’s going to be a long season where development will be the number one priority. This was a squad that struggled to score with veterans last season. Milwaukee only averaged 64.6 points, pegging them 320th. They conceded an average of 70.5 points, placing them 218th in the country.