ASHWAUBENON, Wis. – Jordan Aaron scored 20 points as fifth-seeded Milwaukee eliminated No. 4 seed Valparaiso in a Horizon League second round tournament matchup 74-57 on Friday.
Milwaukee (20-13) faces top-seeded Green Bay (24-5) in the semifinals on Saturday.
Milwaukee scored the first nine points of the game and raced out to a 15-2 lead before 5 minutes had elapsed from the game clock, with four different players hitting from 3-point range. Valparaiso (18-16) finally got on track and cut its deficit to nine at the half, 31-22.
The Panthers led by as much as 15 in the second half. Valpo trimmed that to eight with 5:37 left on consecutive 3-pointers by LaVonte Dority and Bobby Capobianco, but Milwaukee responded with a conventional three-point play by Kyle Helm and a layup from Aaron and cruised from that point.
Matt Tiby had 18 for Milwaukee, while Alec Peters led Valpo with 18.