University of Northern Iowa
Western Michigan
Jacobson Leads UNI to 86-75 Win over Western Michigan
2/19/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2005
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Junior guard Ben Jacobson (Sioux City, Iowa) poured in a game-high 29 points to lead the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team to an 86-75 win over Western Michigan Saturday afternoon at the UNI-Dome. The game was televised live by ESPN2 as part of Bracket Buster Saturday.
Jacobson hit 9-of-17 shots from the field, 2-of-4 on three-pointers and 9-of-10 free throws on the evening, while adding four rebounds, three assists and one steal. For the second time in 10 days, Jacobson put on a stellar performance on the national stage. He set a career-high with 31 points Feb. 9 at Creighton, with that game also being aired on ESPN2.
Three other Panthers reached double figures in scoring. Eric Coleman (Maplewood, Minn.) had 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Erik Crawford (Oakdale, Minn.) had 11 points and Brooks McKowen (Fairbank, Iowa) added 10.
The Broncos came out on fire to start the game, connecting on six of their first eight shots from the field to build a 19-9 lead less than six minutes in. UNI battled back, going on a 15-4 run to take a 24-23 lead with 8:50 left after Jacobson hit a three from the left corner. Neither team held larger than a two point lead the rest of the first half until WMU's Ben Reed hit a 25 foot three-pointer right before halftime to give the Broncos a 44-40 edge heading into the locker room.
UNI took the lead for good, 58-56, after Jacobson scored with 13:40 left. That ignited a 13-1 Panthers run over the next six minutes, as they extended their margin to 69-57. WMU got as close as six, 71-65, after a Reed three-pointer, but Jacobson answered with a conventional three-point play on the ensuing possession. The Broncos got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
For the 15th time this season, UNI shot better than 50 percent from the field, connecting on 52.8 percent of its field goals (28-for-53). Western Michigan shot 45.6 percent from the floor (26-for-57), and was 11-for-22 from three-point range. UNI made 23 free throws on the afternoon, its second most in a game this season.
With its third straight win, UNI improves to 19-8 overall, and is 9-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Western Michigan falls to 16-10 and is 9-6 in the Mid-American Conference. UNI's next game is Wed., Feb. 23 when the Panthers travel to face Southern Illinois, with tipoff set for 7:05 p.m.
