Paul Miller, Bryce Nze among area players shining in college

Once the Packers season ends, basketball takes center stage.

I'm a college basketball guy, so the calendar creeping toward February is a sign that we're hitting the biggest games of the regular season, and I like to keep track of the area players competing at the Division 1 level. It was a thrill Tuesday when I attended the Marquette upset of No. 1-ranked Villanova, with key performances from some Milwaukee-area players such as Duane Wilson (Whitefish Bay Dominican) and Luke Fischer (Germantown).

You can find my Sconnies of March column, updated regularly, at LakeCountryNow.com and also as part of the Roundball Rankings package that takes a weekly look at area prep basketball.

Last week was a good one for Lake Country/Mukwonago-area players, who are among those you'll find featured on Sconnies of March.

Paul Miller of Kettle Moraine was named Summit League Player of the Week for the second time this season as the scoring leader for North Dakota State, and the Bison have surprised some people to sit in first place (6-1 in conference, 14-6 overall) heading into a Jan. 25 battle against Oral Roberts. They're two games ahead of second-place Denver and South Dakota.

Miller has been a big reason why. Last week, he averaged 26 points, six rebounds and two assists in two games, with just 1.5 turnovers in those wins. He shot 11 of 14 from 3-point range (77 percent) and 11 of 12 at the line (92 percent). His 33 points against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (the preseason Summit League favorite) was a career high, and he's shooting 66 percent from distance over his past five games.

Leading the team at 16.0 points per game, Miller had started all 20 contests for a team that made the NCAA Tournament two years ago but fell just short last year, edged by South Dakota State in the Summit League tourney final. Four other Wisconsin prep players grace the roster, including Bay View's Carlin Dupree, another starter.

It's been a bit of a bounceback for Miller, who had a breakout sophomore campaign last year and led the team in scoring but was suspended in the Summit League semifinal for "not meeting expectations" by coach Dave Richman. He did not start the tourney final but did play 29 minutes off the bench. He also battled a knee injury last year that cost him six games. Miller played in the NCAA Tournament as a freshman — an achievement former KM basketball coach Brad Bestor also has on his resume when he played at New Mexico State — and played 13 minutes in a near-miss upset against Gonzaga, an 86-76 loss.

Bryce Nze of Arrowhead has endured his own injury history, including a series of foot ailments that forced him to miss his entire senior season of high school. But he has flourished at UW-Milwaukee as a true freshman, and he was named the Horizon League's Freshman of the Week last week.

Nze's Panthers went 2-1 for the week, and he averaged 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds despite only 18.7 minutes per game. He became the first UWM freshman in 16 years to score 20-plus points in a game when he hit 22 on 10 of 12 shooting against Illinois-Chicago, and he also posted 13 points, seven rebounds and a career-best five assists in a win over Cleveland State. He shot 79 percent for the week from the field (19 of 24).

UWM is going through some ups and downs, playing in the aftermath of several transfers from the program in the wake of the school's decision not to play in a postseason tournament last year. The Panthers were 7-14 heading into a Friday game against Detroit, but they were coming off a week that featured a buzzer-beating win over Cleveland State and a follow-up win over Youngstown State, with hope for the future given the young roster.

Nze averages 7.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game for UWM.

On the women's hoops side, a Jan. 28 battle between Northern Illinois and Ball State promised significant intrigue in the MAC, with the two teams tied atop the West Division standings at 6-1 overall. NIU (13-5 overall) took a damaging loss to Akron (the Zips' only league win of the year thus far) on Jan. 18 but bounced back to beat Miami on Jan. 21, with a Jan. 25 meeting against Kent State also on the docket.

Arrowhead's Kelly Smith had 8 points in the win, and she's a regular starter for the squad averaging 10 points per game — one of six players averaging double figures for the Huskies. Arrowhead's Ally May and Mukwonago's Amber Gray are also on the roster. Another ex-Mukwonago standout, Morgan Glatczak, is on that Ball State team and has seen action in 17 games this season as a true freshman.

Others

Bre Cera, Mukwonago. At Iowa, Cera opened the year seeing significant time as a starter, but her minutes have decreased over the year, hovering around 10 per game in January. She averages 1.6 points per game.

Brady Ellingson, Sussex Hamilton. Also at Iowa on the men's side, Ellingson averages 4.8 points per game and has hit all 18 of his free-throw attempts. He scored 23 points in a game earlier this year against Savannah State.

Jordyn Swan, Pewaukee. After missing all of last year with injury, Swan is back and averaging 3.5 points per game for UW-Milwaukee. She scored 10 points in a Jan. 21 loss to league heavyweight UW-Green Bay.

Abby Gerrits, Pewaukee. She saw 15 minutes in a Jan. 22 battle against Loyola, second-most of the season, and is averaging 3.6 points per game as a true freshman at Northern Iowa.

Mackenzie Latt, Sussex Hamilton. Latt has been a beast, averaging 16.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as a junior at Davidson. Last year's Team MVP recently cleared the 1,000-point mark in her career (she's up to 1,082), but the Wildcats have struggled to 3-16 this year. Latt spent three years at Hamilton and played her senior season in Michigan.

T.J. Schlundt, Oconomowoc. Schlundt doesn't get off the bench regularly for Wisconsin, but he did pick up his first rebound of the year Jan. 12 against Ohio State. Schlundt spent three years at Oconomowoc High School and one at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy.