CEDAR FALLS – Panther fans braved a heavy winter storm on Wednesday night as UNI controlled the pace of the game in a 62-52 win over St. Bonaventure to close out non-conference play at the McLeod Center.
UNI led for all but 4 minutes in the game as the Panthers capitalized off SBU turnovers and multiple trips to the free throw line. The Panthers ended the night shooting 48.9% from the field, forcing the Bonnies to take 30 shot attempts from beyond the arc.
After exchanging a pair of three-point baskets to open the game, the Panthers went to work aggressively crashing the boards on defense inside the paint. Drawing contact on multiple plays, UNI went to the charity stripe ten times in the first half, putting early foul pressure on St. Bonaventure’s starting forward, Yann Farell. With excellent ball movement around the perimeter and inside, Tytan Anderson led the Panthers with 12 first half points, with an additional 8 points from Bowen Born as UNI held off a late push by the Bonnies to go into the halftime break leading 28-22.
St. Bonaventure would close the gap and pull within one-point of the Panthers, but Tytan Anderson’s attack inside continued to improve as the sophomore forward notched 13 second half points as part of a career performance. UNI shot 59.1% from the floor in the final 20 minutes, the third consecutive game the Panthers have shot over 50% in the second half, all while pushing inside for the open shots. Michael Duax and Cole Henry also got into the action in the second period, combining for 11 of UNI’s 34 points with Henry leading the rebounding battle in the second stanza for the Panthers.
Anderson finished with a career-high 25 points, plus 10 rebounds for his conference leading fifth double-double of the season. Bowen ended the night with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting, including a game-high 3 made three-point field goals, as Henry finished with 9 points, a career-best 6 assists and a career-high tying 7 rebounds. Duax also recorded 3 steals to compliment his 7-point night
PANTHER NOTES
UNI evens it’s all-time series record against the Bonnies at 2 wins a piece with Wednesday’s win. The game was St. Bonaventure’s first-ever trip to Cedar Falls, and only its second-ever game played in the state of Iowa.
The Panthers picked up their second win this season against a team that made a national postseason tournament a year ago. The Bonnies reached last season’s NIT semifinal.
UNI is now 1-1 against the Atlantic-10 Conference this year, following a loss at Richmond in November.
The Panthers outscored St. Bonaventure 14-4 off turnovers, and 34-14 inside the paint.
Wednesday night’s game was the fourth contest this season in which UNI has given up 55 points or less. The Panthers are 3-1 this year in such games.
Bowen Born moved up to 77th on UNI’s all-time scoring list with his 733rd point on Wednesday, passing Scott Stafford (1983-85).
In his first season of action this year, Michael Duax scored his 100th career point against the Bonnies.
Head coach Ben Jacobson is now one win away from tying former Creighton coach Dana Altman (1994-2010) for third on the Missouri Valley Conference’s (MVC) all-time wins list. Jacobson has won 326 games at UNI, while Altman won 327 games in his 16 seasons in Omaha.
UP NEXT
UNI resumes MVC play next Wednesday, Dec. 28 as the Panthers host the Missouri State Bears in a 7 p.m. CT tip time at the McLeod Center. The game will be broadcast live on the Panther Sports Network/ESPN+ and on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
