Milwaukee upsets Valpo in Horizon League quarterfinals
DETROIT — Cody Wichmann had 11 points and nine rebounds and Milwaukee upset Valparaiso 43-41 on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals.
On Friday, Milwaukee (10-23) became the first No. 10 seed to ever win a game in the tournament, beating Detroit 85-60.
The Panthers led until Micah Bradford hit a 3-pointer and John Kiser made a layup to give second-seeded Valpo (24-8) a one-point advantage with 10:46 to play. Bryce Nze's putback 27 seconds later sparked a 7-0 run and Milwaukee led the rest of the way. Two free throws by Shane Hammink capped a 9-3 spurt and pulled the Crusaders within one with 1:08 to play, but Brock Stull's jumper made it 43-40 with 43 seconds left and Valpo went 0 of 3 from the field, all 3-point shots, and 1 for 2 from the free-throw line from there.
Valpo — playing without Alec Peters, the Horizon League Player of the Year who averaged 23.0 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, due to a stress fracture in his right foot — set season lows for total points, field-goal percentage (31.9), made field goals (15) and points in a half (12, in the first).
Milwaukee will play No. 3 seed Green Bay or sixth-seeded Illinois-Chicago in the semifinals on Monday.