James Haarsma scored 18 points and Ryan Allen 17 to lead Milwaukee to a 68-55 win against cold-shooting Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Horizon League tournament.
Tony Meier collected seven points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Panthers (20-12), who scored 34 of the game's first 40 points en route to their fifth straight win. Milwaukee faces No. 5 seed Butler in a second-round game on Friday.
Hayden Humes had 14 points and four steals and Gary Talton 11 points for the ninth-seeded Flames (8-22), who shot 22.2 percent (6 of 27) en route to trailing 35-14 at halftime.
A Haarsma 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 34-6 lead. Illinois-Chicago went scoreless for a 5:49 stretch of the first half.
Darrin Williams had 10 points for the Flames.
