Panthers picked 1st in conference for 1st time since 2006

By: Scott Grodsky Facebook | Twitter

Posted: Oct 15, 2024 4:41 PM CST

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- College basketball season is just a few weeks away, and Tuesday was media day for UW-Milwaukee.

The Panthers men's team is ranked at or near the top in preseason polls for the horizon conference.

Last season, the Panthers finished one game short of an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. They made it to the conference championship game but lost a close contest to Oakland. Oakland then went on to pull a shocking first round upset of third-seeded Kentucky.

UWM Coach Bart Lundy says last year's near-miss is pushing his guys this year.

"So all summer on this floor, in this gym, we've talked a lot about hey, not two minutes short. We're not gonna have our work leave us two minutes short. So that's been a motivating factor for us," Lundy said.

This year's Panthers team will be without last year's league-leading scorer, BJ Freeman, who transferred to Arizona State.

But their current squad is highly regarded and will be one of the conference favorites when their season opens on Nov. 3.

CBS 58's Scott Grodsky spoke with Coach Lundy Tuesday in a one-on-one interview. You can watch it below.