The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball team wasn’t going to let what happened against Robert Morris happen again.
This time, instead of squandering a big lead in the second half and losing, UWGB found a way to earn one of its biggest wins of the season in a 79-76 victory over in-state rival UW-Milwaukee on Jan. 5 at the Kress Center.
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It broke a four-game losing streak to the Panthers, who were picked to win the Horizon League in the preseason but have been hit with some notable injuries since that time.
The Phoenix improved to 8-8 overall and 3-2 in Horizon League play after winning two conference games all of last season.
It’s the first time UWGB has been at .500 since the end of 2023-24.
UWGB senior guard Preston Ruedinger had a game-high five assists in a win over UW-Milwaukee on Jan. 5.
After scoring the first 15 points to open the game against Purdue Fort Wayne last week, UWGB scored 13 of the first 17 in this one and led by as many as 21 with 6 minutes left in the first half.
The Phoenix hit 16 of its first 19 shots and led 46-32 at the break, but the fun was just getting started.
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The Panthers scored the first seven points of the second half to cut their deficit to 46-39 with 18 minutes, 43 seconds remaining.
It got even more uncomfortable for Phoenix fans after junior guard Isaiah Dorceus hit a 3-pointer from the wing to get his team within three with 13:35 left before senior guard Amar Augillard hit two free throws 3 minutes later to give UWM its first lead of the game.
The comeback was even better than the one the Panthers had against Wright State on Jan. 1, when they fell behind by 20 and got back to within a point.
It only got worse for UWGB after junior forward Chandler Jackson hit a 3 to give the Panthers a 62-57 advantage with 7:54 left. They still were up four a short time later.
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But instead of completely unraveling the way it did when it blew that 11-point lead in the final minutes to Robert Morris on Dec. 4, this time UWGB responded.
It scored six straight points that started with a dunk from Ramel Bethea and nine of the next 11 on a run capped with a huge 3 from senior point guard Preston Ruedinger that gave UWGB a 70-67 lead with 3:23 left.
It never gave the advantage back.
When Dorceus missed a game-tying 3 at the buzzer, the Phoenix could finally exhale.
UWGB senior guard Justin Allen led the way with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting. Sophomore guard C.J. O’Hara added 19 and junior guard LeBron Thomas 12, while Ruedinger had a game-high five assists before fouling out in the final seconds.
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“When you squander that lead in the second half, you start to see who has confidence,” UWGB coach Doug Gottlieb said. “We are just a different team when Ruedy is in the game and when he’s not in the game. He’s just unbelievably valuable. He’s a tremendous defender, he can make shots, he gets you into everything. I thought LeBron played really smart. They were playing off of him, and he only took that one, I thought it was a bad 3.
“We got a little bit sped up in the second half, played their pace. … Everything was good, and then, yeah, it went a little bit to hell in the handbasket. But we found a way. Good teams find a way.”
After a 4-28 season, it’s starting to look like UWGB might be a pretty good team in Gottlieb’s second year. At least far better than the dead last it was picked to finish in the league.
MORE: UWGB women’s basketball rides defense to top of the Horizon League
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Former UWGB coach Dick Bennett went 5-23 his first season and won 15 games his next. Tod Kowalczyk went 10-20 his first year and 17-11 his second, while Brian Wardle went from 14-18 to 15-15.
Gottlieb appears to be following in the same footsteps, although he gave a shoutout to an assistant coaching staff that added several new faces during the offseason and has paid dividends early on.
UWGB ended the night tied with UWM and Detroit for third in the Horizon, behind Wright State (4-1), Oakland (4-1) and Northern Kentucky (4-2).
Gottlieb had zero interest in talking about whether his team is a legitimate contender.
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But?
“A blind man can see this is a good basketball team, right?” Gottlieb said. “A blind man can see it. I knew it in my heart. That’s why I was so upset against Robert Morris. We were picked to finish dead last by a mile. Like, look at the votes. (The Panthers) were picked first.
“That kind of mentally does stuff to you. I thought Ruedy did a good job of motivating the guys. But, yeah, to close out this one. To close out Santa Barbara. … We are getting better. We are not just winning games. We are getting better. The process is working.”
Doug Gottlieb wants rivalry games played on a better day
Gottlieb was not a fan of the league scheduling a UWGB-UWM game on a Monday.
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“It stays a rivalry when the league figures out that that’s a bad day to schedule a rivalry game,” Gottlieb said. “I love (Horizon League Commissioner) Julie (Roe Lach), I wish her the best with the Indiana Pacers (in her new job). Whoever becomes the commissioner of this league, figure out that’s not the way you do it. It should be rivalry weekend, where everybody plays their travel partner.
“I don’t care if you don’t want to do it on a Saturday because we don’t get as good of refs on a Saturday. Whoever is the next commissioner of the Horizon League, fix the schedule.”
Is that all?
“The schedule is ridiculous,” said Gottlieb, who might soon be receiving a letter from the league. “You shouldn’t play this game on a Monday night, and if you do, it should be on ESPN on a Monday night. It becomes a rivalry when you have games like this. It doesn’t become a rivalry when the camera is on.
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“A rivalry is when, holy cow, we are up 21 and pummeling them and they come back and take the lead and we find a way to win and both teams wipe their sweat and they go, ‘Alright, can’t wait to see you in Milwaukee.’ That’s a rivalry. This is what it’s about.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB men rally to beat UW-Milwaukee in Horizon League rivalry clash
