Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU's Juwan Maxey shoots and scores a second-half three-pointer during a career high 29-point outing in the Penguins' loss to the Panthers on Friday night at Zidian Family Arena.

YOUNGSTOWN — If there’s a Horizon League team whose style of play is perfectly tailored to take advantage of Youngstown State’s weaknesses, Milwaukee is it.

The Panthers are one of the best rebounding teams in Division I — they lead the nation in rebounding margin, but they’re also second nationally in offensive rebounds and 12th in total rebounds. Milwaukee also leads the country in fast-break points.

On Friday night, the Panthers leaned on those strengths, especially in the second half, as they snapped the Penguins’ four-game win streak 84-74 in a nationally-televised primetime showcase at Zidian Family Arena.

“They did what they do well better than we did what we do well,” head coach Ethan Faulkner said. “Give them all the credit in the world, I thought they played excellent. I thought Themus Fulks just controlled the game on the offensive end of the floor for them.”

Milwaukee out-rebounded YSU 35-22, outscored the Penguins in the paint 40-30 and dominated second-chance points 14-4.

“They outhustled us a little bit,” Juwan Maxey said. “We know we expect better from us.”

It was the Maxey and AJ McKee show in the first half.

In the absence of leading scorer EJ Farmer, who missed Friday’s game with an illness, Maxey carried the Penguins in the first half with 18 points. McKee did the same for the Panthers, starting a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor for 16 points. Maxey went on to finish with a new career-high 29 points to lead all scorers.

“I was just finding my rhythm, finding my spots,” Maxey said. “My teammates helped me start off really good. We shared the ball really well and we played defense pretty well too in the first half.”

Milwaukee went on a 10-2 run near the end of the opening half, but the Penguins were able to knock down a couple of shots, including a long-distance three from Nico Galette at the halftime buzzer to tie things up 43-all at the break.

“Even going into halftime, I didn’t think we necessarily had our best stuff on either side of the ball,” Faulkner said. “Juwan had 18 at the half and really kind of carried us to having a chance to go into the break tied.”

But in the second half, Milwaukee began to do what it does best. The Panthers attacked down low and were aggressive on the glass, rattling off an 11-0 run over a four-minute stretch to build a double-digit lead.

“I thought we looked offensively like we did a month ago — too much one-on-one basketball and not enough ball movement and player movement,” Faulkner said. “We weren’t real crisp in our execution and just couldn’t create advantages. … We had to be cleaner in our execution. Our whole offensive identity is to be able to create advantages, whether that’s in transition, in the ball screen or with our actions away from the ball. Just thought we really struggled to do that.”

Milwaukee eventually extended its lead to as much as 17 points, but the Penguins weren’t quite done.

Like it has on numerous prior occasions, YSU fought back to cut the deficit all the way down to six, 75-69, with 2:38 left after Maxey drained his fourth three of the night.

“We got some stops and got out in transition,” Faulkner said. “Was able to get to the free-throw line several times and score with the clock stopped, which is always important when you’re trying to come back.”

But the Panthers closed things out by forcing YSU to come up empty on several possessions down the stretch, whether by missed shots or turnovers.

“Just too many missed opportunities throughout the course of the game and lack of execution on the offensive end of the floor,” Faulkner said.

The Penguins now have a quick turnaround as they get ready for Senior Day on Sunday against Green Bay at 2 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

“We’ll evaluate the tape tonight, and try to learn from it (Saturday),” Faulkner said. “We gotta turn the page quickly because we got a short turnaround to get to Green Bay, a team that’s very dangerous with the way they play offense.”