CEDAR FALLS – UNI men’s basketball sent senior forward Cole Henry out with a 68-54 senior day victory on Tuesday night as the Panthers defeated the Valparaiso Beacons in the final home game of the 2023-24 regular season.
The Panthers outscored the Beacons 23-5 in fastbreak points and used multiple scoring runs to build a double-digit lead, and also capitalized on Valparaiso turnovers throughout the night. Northern Iowa’s victory moves the Panthers within a half game of fourth-place in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) standings with one game to play in the regular season.
The Panthers opened their home finale with a strong first six and a half minutes on both ends of the floor with Bowen Born and Landon Wolf finding the bottom of the net on three-point shots. UNI’s defense also slowed Valparaiso considerably to begin the game, holding the Beacons to just one-of-12 shooting to open the contest. The Beacons would shrink Northern Iowa’s lead to four points with just over six minutes remaining in the first period before rattling off six consecutive baskets to extend its lead back to double-digits. Forcing seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes and shooting 43.8% from the floor, UNI took a 38-21 lead into the halftime break.
UNI’s offensive momentum continued into the second half as Jacob Hutson opened the final frame with a dunk on the Panthers’ first possession. While Valparaiso was able to find an efficient rhythm from beyond the arc with six three-point baskets, the Panthers continued to attack the paint with a 46.2% shooting clip and took command of the game off the glass with five offensive rebounds. Tytan Anderson’s presence on the floor helped push UNI’s lead to as many as 25 points with the Panther defense holding the Beacons to under their season average with 40% shooting on the night.
Anderson finished the night for UNI with an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double, his fourth of the season and 15th of his career, along with a career-high eight assists and a season-best four steals. Wolf led the Panthers in scoring with 14 points with a season-high six made baskets, while Born finished with 12 points. Trey Campbell tallied nine points and seven rebounds with Nate Heise recording a seven-point game with six boards. Henry meanwhile finished with six points in his final home game as a Panther.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI improves to 33-5 all-time against the Beacons with Tuesday’s win, including 18-1 at home against Valparaiso.
The Panthers finish their home schedule with an 11-3 record, marking the 12th time in the building’s 18-year history that UNI has recorded 11+ wins. This year also marks the most home wins by Northern Iowa in a season since going a perfect 16-0 in the McLeod Center in 2019-20.
Northern Iowa outscored Valparaiso 23-5 in fastbreak points, the third time the Panthers have recorded 20+ fastbreak points in a single game this year, as well as the second consecutive contest doing so. The Panthers also outscored the Beacons 22-9 off turnovers.
UNI’s 21 points allowed in the first half were the fewest given up to an opponent in any half this season.
Tytan Anderson extended his streak of scoring at least one point to 62 consecutive games on Wednesday, the longest streak among active Panthers.
Bowen Born has now scored double-digit points in 19 of his last 22 games played. He also broke a tie with Ben Jacobson (2002-06) for fourth in school history with his 205th career three-point field goal.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will wrap up the regular season on Sunday afternoon as they visit the Southern Illinois Salukis. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT at the Banterra Center in Carbondale with live coverage available on the ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
