The UW-Milwaukee men's basketball team released their non-conference schedule on Friday including contests against five different teams that played in the postseason a year ago.
 
The Panthers will also play four regular-season home games during the non-conference portion of the schedule. Six of the 13 opponents also claimed 20 or more victories a season ago.
 
The exhibition slate opens Saturday, November 5, with the Panthers hosting Concordia University Wisconsin at the Klotsche Center for a matinee matchup starting at 2:00 PM.
 
The home opener also has some local flavor, with Milwaukee welcoming MSOE Friday, November 11, to UWM Panther Arena for a 7:00 PM tipoff to officially open the LaVall Jordan era.
 
"Our non-conference schedule this season will provide us with great opportunities to challenge ourselves and compete against quality opponents each and every time out," Jordan said. "Each opponent we face will help prepare us for the rigors of competing in the Horizon League."
 
The first road trip takes the Panthers back to Memphis for the first time in over a decade, taking on a Tiger team November 16 that fell in the American Athletic Conference Championship last year and finished 19-15 overall.
 
A Sunday afternoon game at DePaul November 20 precedes the previously-announced stop at the Sanford Pentagon Showcase November 25-27 for matchups with a trio of opponents that all went to the postseason a year ago in East Tennessee State (24-12, Vegas 16), UC Irvine (28-10, CIT runner-up) and South Dakota State (26-8, NCAA Tournament).
 
The month then closes with a home game against Jacksonville (16-16 in the Atlantic Sun) November 30.
 
December brings the first trip for a UWM team to the state of Montana since 2005 for a pair of games against Big Sky foes. First up is a matchup with a Montana team that went 21-12 and played in the CBI December 3. That is followed up by a visit to play Montana State (14-16) December 5.
 
A road trip to Illinois to play former Horizon League rival Loyola (15-17) awaits December 10, while a stop at Ohio December 14 to play a Bobcat squad that went 23-12 and played into the semifinals of the CBI wraps up the road portion of the non-league slate.
 
Home games against Western Illinois (10-17) at the Klotsche Center December 17 and against Belmont (20-12, NIT appearance) at the Arena downtown December 19 round out the schedule.
 
2016-17 Milwaukee Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule
Sat., Nov. 5: CONCORDIA (Exhibition) - Klotsche Center/2:00 pm
Fri., Nov. 11: MSOE - UWM Panther Arena/7:00 pm
Wed., Nov. 16: at Memphis - Memphis, Tenn./TBA
Sun., Nov. 20: at DePaul - Rosemont, Ill./4:00 pm
Fri., Nov. 25: vs. East Tennessee State $ - Sioux Falls, S.D./5:30 pm
Sat., Nov. 26: vs. UC Irvine $ - Sioux Falls, S.D./2:00 pm
Sun., Nov. 27: vs. South Dakota State $ - Sioux Falls, S.D./2:30 pm
Wed., Nov. 30: JACKSONVILLE - UWM Panther Arena/7:00 pm
Sat., Dec. 3: at Montana - Missoula, Mont./TBA
Mon., Dec. 5: at Montana State - Bozeman, Mont./TBA
Sat., Dec. 10: at Loyola Chicago - Chicago, Ill./TBA
Wed., Dec. 14: at Ohio - Athens, Ohio/TBA
Sat., Dec. 17: WESTERN ILLINOIS - Klotsche Center/2:00 pm
Mon., Dec. 19: BELMONT - UWM Panther Arena/TBA