Horizon League Championship Recap
MILWAUKEE – For the first 39 minutes and 56 seconds of the Horizon League final between the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Detroit Titans, free throws were either the saving grace, or the thorn in the side.
During that time, the Panthers shot 50 percent (12-for-24) from the free throw line, while the Titans shot 79 percent (11-for-14). But with 28 seconds left in the heart-wrenching contest, Detroit’s Ryvon Covile stepped to the free throw line with the score tied and the chance to put the Titans one giant step closer to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999.
Instead, Covile missed both free throws, allowing UWM a chance to win the game as the shot clock was off. UWM’s Boo Davis held the ball as long as he could and then, with 12 seconds left he tossed the ball into the corner to Adrian Tigert. Tigert drove baseline and was fouled on his way up to the basket.
Tigert lined up his free throws, but missed the first one. But after Bruce Pearl called a timeout, Tigert lined up for his second free throw and drilled it to give UWM the lead and what turned out to be the final margin. The Panthers downed the Titans, 59-58, in the Horizon League final, clinching the league tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament.
Detroit’s Brandon Cotton tried a desperation buzzer-beater, but missed the shot giving the largest crowd to see a UWM basketball game, 10,787 fans a reason to celebrate – UWM’s second trip to the NCAA tournament in three years.
“On the second (free throw),” Tigert recalled about what was going through his mind with the game on his shoulders. “I was just thinking about how hard everyone has worked, from the players to the coaches to the administration, and how much everyone deserved it.
“And I just tried to put the pressure on myself to make it.”
UWM’s Joah Tucker, who scored 15 points, added, “I thought we were going to win the whole game. I tried to instill the confidence in everybody that this was our game to win.
“Detroit played well, they played the best they could, but it was still our game to win. Down the stretch, we just kept executing.”
Cotton scored a game-high 21 points for the Titans, who finish the season with a 14-16 record – their first losing record since the 1994-’95 season.
“I was proud of the way my guys came in here,” Detroit coach Perry Watson said. “They really fought against all odds. I thought they left it on the court.
“I thought Brandon Cotton just was a warrior out there.”
Cotton, a transfer from Michigan State and joined the team at mid-season, said, “I feel like I can go out there and play with anybody. I just played hard tonight and left it all on the court. We just couldn’t get the win.”
After the Panthers (24-5) won the regular season title last year, they cut down the nets at their former home at the Klotsche Center. UWM would, of course, go on to lose the Horizon League title game to Illinois-Chicago, 65-62.
This time around, the Panthers, after clinching their second straight regular season championship, did not cut the nets down and waited for the opportunity to do it at the league final. It paid off.
Led off by Allan Hanson, each player and coach took a pair of scissors and cut down the net. Pearl finished it off and Ed McCants, the league’s player of the year who scored 18 points, had the net draped around his neck.
“It felt good finally cutting down the nets because we didn’t want to do it after we won the league,” Tucker said. “We savored it tonight. It felt much better doing it tonight.”
Pearl added, “I thought that in some ways, Detroit deserved to win that game. But we definitely deserved to win that championship. I think that somehow carried over.”
When asked on where they think they will be seeded, Pearl had one theory in mind.
“I just don’t think we can fall as low as 13 (seed),” he said. “I think that when you’ve won 17 out of your last 18 games and had the kind of year we’ve had, I think we’re in position for an 11 or 12 seed.”
But his players had a different theory.
“I don’t care what seed we get,” McCants said. “I mean, any team we play, we’re probably going to try and run on them and try to run them out of the gym. I hope they underestimate this team because we’re coming in as underdogs and that’s the way we like it.
“The mindset now is nothing to lose. Tonight, we had everything to lose – player of the year, the all-conference players, the guys being here last year and trying to get back to the tournament from two years ago, all the pressure was on us. But now, it’s just relax and play ball.”
