Morning State Sports Briefs: UWM sweeps season series with Butler

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INDIANAPOLIS - The UW-Milwaukee men's basketball team swept their two-game regular season series with Butler with an 86-to-80 overtime victory yesterday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Tone Boyle sent the game into overtime by hitting two free throws for the Panthers with 25 seconds left. Boyle then put the Panthers in front for good with a three-pointer with 1:39 left in the OT. Milwaukee won despite being out-rebounded 40-to-33. Shelvin Mack led Butler with 23 points. The Bulldogs fell to 6-3 in the Horizon League, and 14-7 overall. Anthony Hill scored 18 points for UW-Milwaukee, which improved to 5-5 in conference play and 10-11 overall. The Panthers will host Detroit on Friday night.

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The UW-Green Bay men won at Horizon League-leading Valparaiso yesterday, 63-61. Valpo led by seven at halftime, as the Phoenix committed 12 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. The Crusaders led by as much as 10 early in the second half, but Green Bay’s Alec Brown scored seven straight points to cut Valpo’s lead to two. UWGB then led by as many as seven down the stretch. Brown scored 13-of-his-15 points in the second half, when the Phoenix shot 65-percent. Cory Johnson had 17 for Valparaiso, which is still tied with Cleveland State for the Horizon League lead at 7-2. The Crusaders are also 15-6 overall. Green Bay improved to 5-4 in the conference and 11-10 overall. The Phoenix will host Wright State on Friday night.

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The University of Wisconsin women's basketball team topped Illinois 60-47 last night in Madison. The Badgers were down by one point at the break, but they held the Illini scoreless for almost nine-and-a-half minutes in the second half when they pulled away. Wisconsin only committed six turnovers, the third-lowest in the history of the women’s program. And Illinois had its lowest-scoring half of the season with just 18 points after the intermission. Karisma Penn scored 18 points for Illinois, which dropped to 2-5 in the Big Ten and 7-13 overall. Tara Steinbauer scored 19 for Wisconsin, which improved to 11-9 overall and 6-2 in the league. The Badgers held onto sole possession of second place in the Big Ten. They’ll play at Northwestern next Sunday.

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The Milwaukee Bucks will open the second half of their season tonight at Chicago. The Bucks – who made the playoffs a year ago and were hoping to get 50 victories this season – are only on pace to win 32. They’re 16-and-25 at the moment, with the NBA’s lowest field-goal percentage at 42-point-two, and the lowest scoring per game with just over 91 points. But Milwaukee is still within reach of a playoff spot, and they’re staying in it with a tight defense that gives up just 93 points per contest. Coach Scott Skiles says the Bucks have had numerous shooting problems, and their team chemistry must improve. And he says the Bucks must get healthy. Starting guards John Salmons and Brandon Jennings and forward Drew Gooden all missed Saturday night’s 13-point Milwaukee home loss to Memphis. Skiles has used 13 different starting combinations this year due to the injuries. They’ll play a Bulls team tonight that’s 30-and-14, and is competing with Miami for the second-best record in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

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Six Packers will not play in the Pro Bowl as scheduled. The league’s All-Star game will be held Sunday in Honolulu – and players on the Super Bowl teams will not take part. That means Clay Matthews will have to stay behind, along with Charles Woodson, Nick Collins, Tramon Williams, Greg Jennings, and Chad Clifton. Williams had been named to the NFC team just last week, after Asante Samuel of Philadelphia withdrew because of an injury. Jennings says it’s not bad news for him – and he doesn’t believe it’s bad news for any of the Packers. Larry Fitzgerald of Arizona was named last night to take Jennings’ place on the NFC squad in Hawaii – and Roman Harper of New Orleans will take Collins’ place.

Tags: sports, proam, wisconsin