CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa men’s basketball team tied a season-high with 12 3-pointers in posting a 78-63 win over the Illinois State Redbirds on Saturday in Missouri Valley Conference action.
The Panthers (17-10 overall, 7-8 MVC) benefited from freshman Seth Tuttle‘s third career double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) and senior guard Johnny Moran‘s 16 points to defeat the Redbirds.
Illinois State (16-10 overall, 8-7 MVC) also got a double-double from Jackie Carmichael (14 points, 13 rebounds) and 17 points off the bench from Bryant Allen.
The Panthers and Redbirds were knotted seven times in the first 12 minutes of the game. Illinois State built a four-point lead at 30-26 with 5:50 left before intermission.
However, the Panthers went on a 19-4 run that continued into the second half and resulted in a 45-34 lead for UNI with 19:18 left in the game. Included in that run were back-to-back 3-pointers by junior forward Jake Koch that gave the Panthers a 34-30 advantage with just over four minutes remaining in the first half.
Illinois State could only trim the lead to seven at 49-42 before the Panthers extended the lead back to double figures. UNI would not relinquish a double-figure lead in the final 11:27 of the contest.
UNI will travel to Evansville on Wednesday to take on the Purple Aces. It will be UNI’s first game in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
NOTES: Johnny Moran has scored 985 points in his Panther career and needs only 15 points to become the 34th member of the 1,000-point club at UNI … Moran played in his 128th career game at UNI … Moran is tied for No. 3 on the all-time games played list at UNI with Eric Coleman (2004-08) … Deon Mitchell tied a season-high with five assists … Illinois State is 0-6 all-time in the McLeod Center and has lost eight straight games in Cedar Falls … UNI head coach Ben Jacobson is 10-4 all-time vs. Illinois State … UNI is 7-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points … UNI is 70-22 all-time in the McLeod Center.
Courtesy: UNI Athletics Communications
