Standing at half court of U.S Cellular Arena, Austin Arians’ eyes ran up the seats and into the rafters, looking at the hanging banners near the roof.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sophomore forward couldn’t help but smile.

"Obviously it’s bigger than the Klotsche (Center) and I like playing in bigger arenas," he said. "From the seniors and juniors who have actually played here, they say the atmosphere during big games is unreal, which it something that Klotsche didn’t produce real well last year. I’m excited to be down here."

The Panthers are back Downtown for the 2013-14 season after a year on campus, one of several changes that the Panthers hope will excite the city about following an eight-win season last year.

"It looks good, it feels good," head coach Rob Jeter said of the return to the U.S. Cellular Arena. "As a university we talk a lot about being part of the community and really trying to be part of the Milwaukee community and there’s really no better place than to be part of the community than being right down town, being here at the Cell, in a building that’s full of history, not just only for our program but for the city and for the Bucks. It’s always been exciting and I’m excited to be back. We want to continue to build on that tradition."

The team’s second-leading scorer, Jordan Aaron, returns in the back court, along with Arians and forwards J.J. Panoske and Kyle Kelm, but Jeter hopes that the additions of forwards Malcolm Moore (University of Texas-El Paso), Matt Tiby (Kirkwood Community College), Jevon Lyle (Iowa Western Community College) and point guard Steve McWhorter (Indiana State) help create a more balanced lineup.

"Last year, Jordan really carried the load for us in scoring," the ninth-year coach said. "It was a lot easier for teams to really focus in on him. What we’re hoping is that we have a team that’s able to absorb (more) so collectively we’re scoring, collectively we’re rebounding, so that as a group and as a unit we’re much tougher."

McWhorter has been with the program for a year, sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. He’ll move to the point guard spot to allow Aaron more opportunities to score. Aaron averaged 14.4 points per game as the Panthers’ point guard last season and was named to the Horizon League’s All-Newcomer team and has been tabbed a preseason All-Horizon League second teamer.

As for McWhorter, the 6-foot, 2-inch point guard out of Racine brings a different level of leadership and defensive ability to the backcourt.

"Steve is a really, really good point guard – he knows how to distribute the ball well," Arians said. "He’s a good floor general."

Added Moore: "He’s one of the better point guards I’ve seen in a long time. He’s long, he’s tall, he can guard, he runs the team but he doesn’t really push the action too much."

The wildcards for the Panthers are the new faces, which includes Moore – a 6-7, 230-pound scoring forward from Iowa who played parts of two seasons for UTEP and coach Tim Floyd in Conference USA. Unfortunately, he was never quite healthy, missing the bulk of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons with a knee injury.

Moore came to UWM as a graduate student and chose the Panthers because of the recruiting groundwork Jeter laid years ago.

"I remember when I was in high school they always had a finger in all my recruiting and they were always around," Moore said of Jeter and his staff.

"When I got out of that situation I was just in (at UTEP) and I started looking at schools, there were a bunch of schools that came after me quick and UWM was one of the first ones to contact me. I came out here on my first visit and after looking around, seeing the coaching staff, seeing what they wanted from me and seeing the situation they were in, it was a situation I was automatically attracted to. I wanted to be on a team that had potential and wanted to win and had an urgency to win. It’s a wonderful city. I love it. It’s back close to home. It was an all-around win situation for me."

Lyle is a Missouri native who began his collegiate career at Northern Iowa, redshirting in 2011-12. Tiby is from Iowa and averaged 11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds at Kirkwood CC before transferring to UWM during the second semester of last season. Alex and Brett Pahl, the 6-9 freshman twins out of East Troy are likely to redshirt.

As for the returners, senior guard Thierno Niang is also healthy after playing in just 14 games last year due to a back injury while Arians looks to build off a freshman campaign where he averaged 6.6 points per game.

To climb up the Horizon League standing, many of these players will need to take a step forward and elevate their game.

"That’s always the surprise," Jeter said. "That’s the one for fans and for coaches it’s always like who’s that pleasant surprise going to be this year? We’ve got to wait and see on that. But what I do know is we have some younger guys that have put some more time in the weight room, some of them have put more time on the court trying to increase their skill set. Now, the biggest challenge for this group is learning how to play together."

Panthers on TV: The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will have at least 15 basketball games televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel during the 2013-14 season. The schedule includes 10 men's contests and five women's games, with three additional telecasts possible during the final weeks of the season.

The men's schedule debuts Nov. 19 when the Panthers host DePaul in their official return to the U.S. Cellular Arena. The women's TV schedule begins Nov. 14 when the Panthers host Wisconsin.

As many as three more games could be added in February, with decisions on those broadcasts made later in the season as the Horizon League sets its late-season TV plans.

UWM TV Schedule
Nov. 14 – Women vs. Wisconsin, 7 p.m.
Nov. 19 – Men vs. DePaul, 7 p.m.
Nov. 30 – Men at University of Missouri-Kansas City, 7 p.m.
Dec. 3 – Men vs. Northern Iowa, 7 p.m.
Dec. 15 – Women vs. Marquette, 1 p.m.
Jan. 4 – Men vs. Cleveland State, 7 p.m.
Jan. 11 – Women at Green Bay, 1 p.m.
Jan. 12 – Men vs. Green Bay, 1 p.m.
Jan. 16 – Men at UIC, 7 p.m.
Jan. 18 – Men at Valparaiso, 1 p.m.
Jan. 21 – Men at Wright State, 6 p.m.
Jan. 23 – Women vs. Wright State, 7 p.m.
Jan. 29 – Women vs. UIC, 7 p.m.
Jan. 30 – Men vs. Wright State, 7 p.m.
Feb. 8 – Men at Green Bay, 1 p.m.