CEDAR FALLS – UNI played a physical game from start to finish on Sunday afternoon and staved off a late second half rally by the Bradley Braves to secure a 74-63 win against the reigning Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) regular season champions inside the McLeod Center.
Northern Iowa slowed one of the league’s top teams down and shot over 50% in the first period, but struggled in the final period to find the bottom of the net. Despite the difficult shooting performance in the final 20 minutes, UNI held off the Braves down the stretch and led for 38 minutes to snap a four-game skid against Bradley.
The Panthers brought the energy from the opening tip with a 13-0 run to open the game and built a double-digit lead on an impressive 51.7% shooting performance in the first 20 minutes. UNI’s defense was effective in slowing Bradley’s high-octane offense down to 30% shooting, with Cole Henry providing a major boost with a pair of first half blocks. Northern Iowa’ three-point shooting also gave the Panthers a major advantage with the purple and gold draining eight baskets from beyond the arc. The Panthers urgency in attacking the glass for rebounds paid dividends, outrebounding the Braves 19-13 to take a 44-26 lead into the halftime break.
Sunday’s second half would prove to be an offensive for the Panthers, who hit just five field goals on 22.7% shooting. Despite the difficult shooting clip and ten personal fouls in the final frame, UNI maintained its lead with Bradley closing the gap down to as little as four points with the Braves draining three baskets from three-point range. Northern Iowa would convert 18-of-20 free throw attempts and saw stellar play from its bench, outscoring Bradley 19-2 off the bench en route to the 11-point victory.
Jacob Hutson led the Panthers with 14 points, including a career-high eight made free throws with seven rebounds. Bowen Born recorded 12 points with three steals, while Nate Heise tallied 11 points and six rebounds with a team-high three made three-pointers. Tytan Anderson recorded his second double-double of the season and 13th of his career with a ten-points, 12-rebounds game. Trey Campbell and Landon Wolf finished with eight points each, as Cole Henry, RJ Taylor and Michael Duax all posted three points each.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI pulls within one game of tying the all-time series against Bradley with Sunday’s win. The Braves now lead the all-time series, 38-37.
Sunday’s victory was Northern Iowa’s first against Bradley since winning at home on Feb. 2, 2022, snapping a four-game losing streak against the Braves.
Tytan Anderson extended his streak of scoring at least one point to 59 consecutive games on Sunday, the longest streak among active Panthers. Anderson is now ten points from his 800th in his career.
Bowen Born surpassed 1,400 career points on Sunday, and moved into tenth-place on the program’s all-time scoring list, moving ahead of Robbie Sieverding (1998-02) with 1,405 points. Born has also notched double-digit points in 16 of his last 19 games.
Born now sits two three-point field goals away from 200 in his career, a milestone only six other UNI players have reached (Matt Bohannon, AJ Green, Trae Berhow, Ben Jacobson, Johnny Moran, Marc Sonnen). He also passed Berhow for fourth in career three-point attempts in school history (571).
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 21 as they travel to take on the Illinois State Redbirds in Normal. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT at CEFCU Center with live coverage available on ESPN2 and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
