PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Will Hornseth and Kyle Pock each notched career-high figures in scoring on Wednesday afternoon, but the UNI men’s basketball team’s second half comeback came up short as the Panthers dropped their first game of the 2025-26 season to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the title game of the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.
Despite shooting 44.4% for the game and outscoring Tulsa by ten points in the paint, a strong three-point shooting performance by the Golden Hurricane would contribute to a back-and-forth game early and deficit for much of the second half for Northern Iowa.
UNI held the Golden Hurricane to just one made field goal on its first seven attempts in an early defensive battle. Tulsa’s three-point shooting would heat up as the first half progressed however as the Golden Hurricane drained six baskets from beyond the arc. Shooting 37% from the field in the first 20 minutes, Northern Iowa trailed by as many as nine points, but was able to trim its deficit to seven points heading into halftime. Leon Bond III led the first half for the Panthers with 12 points.
The Panthers would claw back in a tight second half shooting 44% from the field with Will Hornseth scoring eight straight UNI points to pull within four at 41-37. A pair of three-point baskets from Pock and a dunk by Ismaël Diouf would tie the game at 45-45 with three additional free throws by Pock giving UNI a 48-47 lead. Tulsa used a 7-0 run to retake the lead and wouldn’t look back despite a late push from the Panthers, who had one last opportunity to tie the game on the final possession.
Hornseth finished the afternoon with a career-high 16 points on a career-best seven made field goals, while Pock notched a career-high 15 points with four made three-pointers. Bond tallied 14 points with five rebounds, as Tristan Smith led UNI with a team-high seven rebounds plus seven points. Trey Campbell led the Panthers with four assists as Geon Hutchins, Ben Schowieger, Bond and Smith each recorded one steal.
“We had a lot of great opportunities but Tulsa just outplayed us,” said head coach Ben Jacobson. “In the second half we got off to a slow start with our biggest margin. Our defensive and rebounding we thought was good enough, but probably what hurt us the most was some of our decisions around the basket.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI falls to 3-9 all-time against Tulsa with Wednesday’s loss. The matchup marked the first meeting between the two programs since 1996 during the Golden Hurricane’s final season in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).
Wednesday’s contest was the fourth straight game UNI has pulled down at least seven offensive rebounds.
Kyle Pock has made four three-point field goals in each of his last three games.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action following the Thanksgiving holiday on Monday, Dec. 1, hosting the Coe Kohawks. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT inside the McLeod Center with live coverage of the game can be found on CBS Sports Network and the Panther Sports Radio Network (93.5 The Mix).
