UNI Stays Perfect At Home; Defeats UT Arlington

Thursday, December 7

Cedar Falls, Iowa

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

7-2

UT Arlington

7-2

UT Arlington

UNI

UNI Stays Perfect At Home; Defeats UT Arlington

12/7/2017 9:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score UNI 62, UTA 58

BOX SCORE (PDF)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team remained perfect at home in the McLeod Center with a 62-58 victory over UT Arlington on Thursday.

UNI (7-2 overall) rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final eight minutes to record its fifth home victory of the season. UT Arlington suffered only its second loss of the season and fell to 7-2 overall.

UNI used a 16-2 run to turn a 50-43 deficit with 8:05 left into a 59-52 lead with 2:54 remaining in the game. UT Arlington had blanked UNI from the field from the 17:50 mark of the second half until a three-pointer from the wing by sophomore Isaiah Brown with 6:56 on the clock. UNI had missed nine straight shots following a three-pointer by senior Klint Carlson that gave the Panthers a 34-30 lead.

Brown's shot ignited the Panther offense, which then drained its next six shots from the field. Sophomore Spencer Haldeman found himself wide open for a layup after an assist from fellow sophomore Juwan McCloud. Freshman Tywhon Pickford drilled a jumper with 5:44 that tied the game at 50-50. Brown buried a jumper with 4:58 to give UNI a two-point cushion. UTA retied the contest at 52-52 on a basket from Kevin Hervey with 4:35 left. Pickford sank a pair of free throws with 4:15 before McCloud knocked in a jumper and then a three-pointer to put the Panthers on top 59-52 with 2:54 remaining in the contest.

Hervey drilled a three-pointer with :49.3 left to cut UNI's lead to 59-58 before Haldeman finished off the Mavericks. With the shot clock winding down, Haldeman found himself open in the corner by the UNI bench. Haldeman sank the triple to give UNI a four-point lead at 62-58 with :25.2 left to seal the Panther victory.

Carlson carried the Panther offense for the majority of the night as he scored a career-high 24 points and drained six three-pointers. However, Carlson picked up his fourth with 8:44 left in the game and had to sit out while his teammates completed the comeback.

UNI will be back in action Sunday at 4 p.m. against the Dubuque Spartans. The UNI men's game follows the Panther women's basketball game vs. Wisconsin-Parkside set for 1 p.m. in the McLeod Center.