University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Western Carolina
UNI Routs Western Carolina
11/20/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2005
Des Moines, Iowa - Eric Coleman (Maplewood, Minn.) led all scorers with 17 points, and Ben Jacobson (Sioux City, Iowa) added 12, to help lead the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team to a 68-46 win over Western Carolina at the Wells Fargo Arena tonight.
Coleman connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field and also grabbed six rebounds. Fellow frontcourt starter Grant Stout (New Sharon, Iowa) had eight points (on 4-of-7 shooting) and six rebounds with two blocks. Senior guard John Little (Peoria, Ill.) came off the bench to contribute six points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Western Carolina was within three, 19-16, with 6:16 left in the first half, before UNI went on a 15-2 run over the next five minutes to effectively seal the game. Jared Josten (Webster City, Iowa) hit a pair of three-pointers during that stretch. The Panthers, who led 37-20 at the break, never allowed the Catamounts to get closer than 16 points after halftime.
A total of 12 UNI players got into the game, with 10 of them scoring. Freshman guard Travis Brown (Richfield, Minn.) made the most of his time in his college debut, scoring eight points in just six minutes of action. Brown hit both of his field goal attempts and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line. He also grabbed three rebounds and had one assist.
UNI shot an even 50 percent from the field (25-for-50) on the game, and outrebounded WCU 37 to 28. The Panthers had 20 assists and just nine turnovers on the night, grabbing seven steals and blocking three shots.
Western Carolina (1-4) was led by Antonio Russell, who had 11 points. The Catamounts shot just 36.4 percent (16-for-44) from the field for the game, and committed 15 turnovers.
UNI (1-0) travels to face Western Michigan this Wednesday (Nov. 23) in Kalamazoo, Mich.
