RICHMOND, Va. – UNI struggled to finish shot attempts and shot just 32% from the floor as the Panthers fell to the Richmond Spiders, 68-55, on Friday night at the Robins Center in their first road contest of the season.
The Panthers pressured the Spider offense early and limited Richmond to 36.7% shooting in the opening stanza. In an early back-and-forth with little shooting from three-point distance, the Panthers held firm down as many as 5 points to the Spiders, ultimately building a short 4-point advantage thanks to quick maneuvering by Bowen Born and UNI’s only two made three-point baskets of the half by James Betz. In a stanza that saw UNI get into early foul trouble, the Panthers would go into the halftime break trailing 32-29.
UNI struggled to shoot the basketball out of the locker room and quickly fell behind by double-digits as Richmond shot 56.5% from the field with 6 made three-point shots. Heise notched 9 points in the half with Born and Tytan Anderson each scoring 5 points, but the Panthers were unable to slow the Spiders’ pace, being outscored in the second period by 10 points, ultimately falling to Richmond by 13.
Born finished the night with a team-high 17 points, as Anderson notched his first career double-double with a career-best 13 points and 10 rebounds. Heise tallied 10 points with a pair of steals in the loss, while Trey Campbell and Betz both finished with 6 points.
PANTHER NOTES
UNI falls to 1-4 all-time against the Spiders with Friday’s loss.
The Panthers outscored the Spiders 17-7 off Richmond’s 11 turnovers.
UNI has hit a three-point field goal in 51 consecutive games, the 7th longest active streak among MVC teams.
Richmond was one of three teams UNI will face this season that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
UP NEXT
The Panthers stay on the road and will visit the No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers on Monday night in Charlottesville. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT at John Paul Jones Arena. The game will be broadcast live on the ACC Network and be available on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
