CEDAR FALLS – UNI’s offense was unable to find a spark and struggled to slow down its opponent’s high scoring momentum as the Panthers fell to the Indiana State Sycamores 80-69 on Saturday afternoon inside the McLeod Center.
After letting the Sycamores run wild from beyond the three-point arc early two weeks ago, the Panthers slowed Indiana State’s attack from distance early and made great efforts defensively to create challenging shots. UNI struggled however offensively to match the Sycamores’ speed and quick passing around the perimeter, shooting only 35% from the field as opposed to ISU’s 50%. The Panthers were able to rattle off a 9-0 run to cut Indiana State’s lead down to 4 points, but gave up a set of back-to-back three-pointers as the Sycamores took a 44-29 lead into the halftime break.
UNI continued to struggle to slow ISU in the second half by giving the Sycamores additional possessions of 7 turnovers, but began to find some rhythm on 46% shooting late in the period. Shooting 5-of-11 from three-point range, the Panthers managed to cut Indiana State’s 28-point lead down to 15 in the final minutes with Trey Campbell scoring 9 points down the stretch, with Landon Wolf sinking a pair of second half triples and Drew Daniel, Tytan Anderson and Ege Peksari each posting 3 points.
Anderson would finish the game with a team-high 13 points for UNI, plus 4 rebounds. Michael Duax scored 8 points with a team-high 6 rebounds, while Wolf and Cole Henry also finished with 8 points. Bowen Born tallied 5 points in the Panther loss.
PANTHER NOTES
Indiana State leads the all-time series with UNI 35-31 after Saturday’s game. The loss marks the first time UNI has been swept in the regular season series by the Sycamores since the 2017-18 season.
The Panthers were outrebounded 35-29 against the Sycamores.
ISU attempted 24 free throws on 19 UNI fouls on Saturday, as compared to UNI’s 11 attempts on 16 Sycamore fouls.
Tytan Anderson surpassed 400 career points on Saturday with his 13-point performance.
UP NEXT
UNI returns to action on Wednesday night as the Panthers host the first-place Drake Bulldogs at 8 p.m. CT inside the McLeod Center. Fans are encouraged to wear purple. The game will be broadcast on the Panther Sports Radio Network and on the MVC TV Network (see blackout restrictions).
