UWM men's basketball coach Bart Lundy explains pride in first three seasons
Bart Lundy is celebrating his fourth season as head coach of the Panthers in the 2025-25 season. That's what he feels best in the first three matches.
- The UW-Milwaukee Panthers won their season opener against Hampton 90-86.
- Senior forward John Lovelace Jr. will miss the season with a non-contact injury suffered during practice.
- Freshman Stevie Elam scored 16 points in his debut, playing in honor of his injured teammate.
- Toledo transfer Seth Hubbard led the Panthers with 23 points in his first game with the team.
There were many reasons to be in a good mood. UW-Milwaukee Panthers with a 90-86 season-opening win over Hampton on Monday night, Nov. 3, at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
But the good feelings faded with news that the Brown Deer alumnus John Lovelace Jr. was lost for the year after suffering a horrific non-contact injury in training four days earlier.
Lovelace is a 6-foot-8 senior forward. was up for big things in his second season at UWM after transferring from Youngstown State.
“It was a pretty traumatic injury,” coach Bart Lundy said. “There is nothing that could put his life in danger. But he's probably out for the entire year. He is still waiting for surgery. And so the last few days have been quite emotional. We want to wish Johnny all the best and he will be with us in spirit.”
“He’s played at such a high level and has really come so far since he’s been here. It's just one of those things.”
Stevie Elam was able to stand out enough to score 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks in his Panthers debut, but left no doubt that Lovelace was on his and his teammates' minds the entire time.
“He’s like a big brother to me,” Elam said. “And when I saw that, it just broke my heart. I immediately started crying. Just broke. I never want to see this. It just hurts.”
“The last couple of days have been hard, I’ll be honest.”
Elam, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound wrecking ball from Adrian, Michigan, played 21 minutes off the bench and made 5 of 11 shots overall, including 4 of 7 3-pointers, becoming one of four double-digit scorers for UWM.
But it's Elam's intangibles that have also been on display and just as impressive – a fiery temperament, a nose for the ball and a physical strength that puts him on par with any high school player Lundy has had in his four years at the helm of the Panthers.
“He's fearless,” Lundy said. “I think both him and Josh (Dixon, another freshman guard) are fearless. We could play the conference championship tomorrow and I don't think Stevie or Josh would bat an eyelid.
“You see it every day.”
Elam, who finished with 2,112 points in a four-year career at Adrian High School, scored nine points in the first half and then grabbed all six of his boards and recorded all three of his blocks in the second half to help hold off a pesky Hampton team that just kept fighting.
It was the best debut for a Panthers rookie since Patrick Baldwin Jr. had 21 points and 10 rebounds at North Dakota to open the 2021-22 season.
“Just ready,” Elam said of his mindset. “Every day I get better in training. The training is really hard and it's nice to compete against each other every day. Older guys and coaches teach me. They help me stay prepared every day.”
“I was a little nervous. But I talked to my teammates and they helped me a lot. I had a lot of confidence.”
Another rookie, Toledo transfer Seth Hubbard, led the Panthers with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting in 33 minutes. He also made 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc, while Faizon Fields added 16 points and nine rebounds and Daytona State led Isaiah Dorceus with 11 points and six assists.
Senior Danilo Jovanovic also had a well-balanced performance, finishing with five points, 10 rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes.
UWM started slowly before taking control with a 16-3 run midway through the first half. The scoring grew to 14 points just before halftime and was still tied at 11 after an Elam layup with 7 minutes, 1 second left in the game before Hampton began to fall behind in earnest.
By the 3:21 mark, the Pirates were within two, and it was Elam's big rebound in traffic after Dorceus' missed free throw with the possession arrow pointing toward the Panthers that helped provide some more breathing room.
UWM missed the target in the final 2:44, and poor free throw shooting left the door ajar.
Hampton's 3-pointer with 21 seconds left made it 89-86, but Dixon made the first of two free throws at the other end and the Pirates missed three threes the rest of the way as UWM held on.
“It was a game where we learned a lot,” Lundy said. “Sometimes it wasn’t very pretty. We need to fix some things and we didn't keep the ball in front of us. But to get it and put it in your belt is really good.”
“The outcome could have been different.”
UWM finished 23 of 42 from the free throw line (54.8%), a familiar theme carried over from last season.
“If we make free throws, that's a whole different story,” Lundy said.
