University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Wichita State
Viet's Three-Pointer Gives UNI 77-75 Overtime Win over Wichita State
2/13/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2008
Final Stats |
Quotes |
Photo Gallery 
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Senior guard Adam Viet hit a three-pointer from the right wing with 4.8 seconds left in overtime to lift the University of Northern Iowa to a 77-75 win over Wichita State tonight at the McLeod Center.
In a game that featured nine ties and nine lead changes, the Shockers had one last chance to win. After Viet's trey gave the Panthers the lead, WSU senior point guard Matt Braeuer took the inbounds pass and raced down court. His contested three from the right corner rimmed out as the buzzer sounded, giving UNI the two-point victory.
UNI had five players in double-figures, led by Adam Koch with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Jared Josten had 15 points and five assists, while Eric Coleman (14 points, 11 rebounds), Travis Brown (10 points) and Carlton Reed (10 points) also reached double-digits. Coleman's double-double was his 11th of the season and 31st of his career. Wichita State was led by senior P.J. Couisnard, who scored a career-high 22 points.
WSU held as much as a seven-point lead in the first half (17-10), and were still up by six with 6:37 left. UNI then scored eight straight points - four by Coleman - to take its first lead of the game, 24-22, with just under four minutes in the half. WSU regained the lead, 30-28, on a Couisnard layup with 23 seconds left, but Josten was fouled with three seconds remaining, and made both free throws to pull the Panthers even at 30 at the break.
UNI led 37-35 early in the second half, before going on a 10-2 run. Coleman got the Panthers started with a dunk, and Reed finished it off with back-to-back three-pointers, to push UNI's lead to its largest point, 47-37, with just over 12 minutes remaining in regulation. Wichita State scored eight straight, culminated by a conventional three-point play from Couisnard, to get within 47-45 with 8:42 left, but the Panthers extended their lead back to seven, 57-50, on a three-pointer from Josten with 5:18 left.
The Panthers led by eight, 60-52, with just over three minutes left. Phillip Thomasson converted a three-point play with 2:09 left, fouling Coleman out in the process. After Koch made one of two free throws to extend UNI's lead to 61-55, Braeuer's layup with 1:34 left got the Shockers within 61-57. Thomasson scored to pull the Shockers within two, and after Kerwin Dunham made one of two free throws to put the Panthers up 62-59, Mekel hit a deep three to tie the game at 62 all with 28.4 second left. UNI ran the clock down for the final shot, but Josten's jumper from the left wing missed and the game went to overtime.
Koch and Brown each hit three-pointers to give UNI a 68-62 lead to start OT. After Braeuer answered with a trey of his own, Dunham hit a 10 foot jumper and Viet nailed his first three-pointer of the game to push the Panthers lead to 73-65 with 1:25 left in the extra session. Couisnard scored on a put back, and after WSU forced a turnover, Mekel nailed a deep three to pull the Shockers within 73-70 with just over a minute left. Brown then made one of two free throws, and Couisnard scored again to make the score 74-72 with 30 seconds left. WSU turned up the defensive pressure again, forcing another Panther turnover, and Mekel gave WSU the lead, 75-74, with 19 seconds left on a three from the top of the key. The Panthers then called timeout, and got the ball to Koch, who drove towards the basket and found Viet open, who nailed the game-winning shot.
UNI shot 47 percent from the floor, and tied a season-high with 10 three-pointers, connecting on 10-of-19 from behind the arc for the game. Wichita State shot 42 percent from the field and were 8-for-26 from downtown. The Panthers won the battle of rebounding, 39-31.
With the win, UNI improved to 15-10 overall, 7-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Wichita State fell to 10-15, 3-11 in the Valley. The Panthers play host to 14th-ranked Drake on Saturday afternoon, with tipoff from the McLeod Center set for 1:05 pm.
