The UW-Milwaukee Panthers are playing their best basketball of the season at just the right time

Expectations were high this season for UW-Milwaukee’s men’s basketball team.

Injuries, inconsistency and the dismissal of a key player all conspired to leave the Panthers tied for fifth in the Horizon League standings at the end of the regular season, a little more than four months after they’d been selected to finish second in the preseason poll.

But none of that matters now.

UWM is on a roll.

And at just the right time, too, with its fifth straight victory – a 95-84 decision at UW-Green Bay on Thursday – netting a spot in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament in Indianapolis.

The sixth-seeded Panthers (19-14) will face fifth-seeded Northern Kentucky (17-14) at 8:30 p.m. Monday at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, with the winner facing either top-seeded Oakland or seventh-seeded Cleveland State on Tuesday night with the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

“I told the guys after the game (Thursday) how proud I was of them. Being able to kind of pick the pieces up as we've gone along with all the challenges and hurdles we've had,” said coach Bart Lundy, who is seeking to lead UWM to the title game for the first time since the 2016-2017 season.

The Panthers advanced to Indianapolis last season as well in Lundy’s first year but fell to Cleveland State, 93-80, in the semifinals.

“Persevering through all that and now giving ourselves a chance to go back to Indy, I think we're poised to really be able to do something great,” Lundy continued. “And the guys that are back from last year, they had that experience. From what I've experienced in my career, you have these breakthroughs – like sometimes you have to go and see it and feel it before you can break through.

“We got there last year and we had a disappointment, but now I feel like we can break through that. Instead of being happy to be there, we're not going to be happy unless we win.”

UW-Milwaukee has won seven of its past eight games

And winning is what the Panthers have been doing of late.

Following a two-game losing streak that dropped them to 12-13 overall and 7-7 in the Horizon League, they won seven of eight to close out the regular season – a streak that began with a 71-68 triumph at Cleveland State in which the Panthers had only seven healthy, available scholarship players.

A buzzer-beating win at home against Northern Kentucky came next, followed by an overtime loss to Youngstown State.

Wins over Purdue-Fort Wayne, IUPUI and Green Bay followed. Then after a hard-fought victory over a scrappy Detroit Mercy team in the first round of the Horizon tournament, UWM knocked off third-seeded Green Bay on the Phoenix's home court to punch its ticket to Indianapolis.

Over their five-game winning streak the Panthers have done virtually everything right.

They’re shooting 50.4% while limiting opponents to 45.8%. They’ve made 30 more free throws, won the rebounding battle each time (plus-65 total), forced more turnovers than they committed and are averaging 87.8 points per game while allowing 78.

“We’ve really shook up some things,” Lundy said. “We've inserted Dominic Ham into the starting lineup, and that's really helped us defensively. Faizon Fields kind of gaining the confidence, and that's helped our inside presence and rebounding. We’ve really talked about, ‘We need to attack the rim, we need to attack the paint.’ So, we're getting to the free throw line. We're getting the ball inside. They're buying in.

“I'm able to come in with Aaron Franklin. Learic Davis has really started to elevate. And just some development with guys and guys being healthy has helped that, too. So, all those areas have improved because of different guys.”

Ham – son of former Milwaukee Bucks player and assistant Darvin Ham, who is now coach of the Los Angeles Lakers coach – is a fascinating story.

A senior walk-on playing in his second season for the Panthers, the 6-foot-5 guard had played a total of 28 minutes in six games while dealing with a fractured rib before his playing time spiked beginning with a 16-minute stint against Robert Morris on Feb. 10.

He’s played at least 14 minutes every game since and UWM is 7-1 when Ham starts. While Ham's statistical contributions have been modest, Lundy said he has added a much-needed edge.

“He's still dealing with (the rib injury). He's such a tough kid,” Lundy said. “He came back (in early February) and at that time we were just really dealing with not being very tough or having a lot of grit as a team. And that's what we thought he would give us."

BJ Freeman has been hot down the stretch

The biggest catalyst for UWM, however, has been BJ Freeman.

A back injury and some down moments behind him, the junior wing has almost single-handedly carried the Panthers during this five-game winning streak by averaging 28.8 points on 53.3% shooting, nine rebounds and four assists per game.

He’s racked up four consecutive double-doubles – a school record – and has scored 20 or more in nine straight. In 25 games this season the second-team all-Horizon pick is averaging 21.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists, all team highs.

He's scored 30 and 32 points in his last two games, with the latter performance against Green Bay setting a program single-game record in Horizon tournament play.

“Over this last little stretch, BJ has been unbelievable,” said Lundy. “Not only has he scored, but he's cleaned up his floor game. He's more engaged defensively. And when he's playing like that, obviously that makes us a way, way more dangerous team.”

UWM, Northern Kentucky split the regular-season games

In Northern Kentucky, UWM faces an opponent it has largely played evenly in splitting the teams’ regular-season series.

On Jan. 18 the Panthers were neck-and-neck with the Norse before going stone-cold and scoring three points over the final 7 minutes in a 90-72 road loss.

Then on Feb. 17 an Angelo Stuart three-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining sealed a 73-72 win for the Panthers at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

“I think a lot of their program. I think Coach (Darrin) Horn does it the right way," Lundy said. "What they do is pretty unique; their zone is unique. And they know how to win. So, I think we've got our hands full, for sure.”

Top-seeded Oakland faces seventh-seeded Cleveland State at 6 p.m. in the first semifinal game.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Panthers set for Horizon semifinal against Northern Kentucky