University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Drake
It's a Panther State; UNI Rolls Past Drake, 67-51
1/27/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
For more highlights and postgame reaction log on to UNI Athletics on YouTube. CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The No. 25-ranked University of Northern Iowa men's basketball squad claimed its second-ever mythical state championship with a 67-51 victory over the visiting Drake Bulldogs on Wednesday night in the McLeod Center.
UNI's only previous mythical state title came in the 1997-98 season. The Panthers improved to 18-2 overall and 9-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while the Bulldogs fell to 10-12 overall and 5-5 in the league. The Panther win snapped the Bulldogs' five-game win streak.
The Panthers were paced by a 14 points from senior forward Adam Koch and a 9-point, 9-rebound effort from junior forward Lucas O'Rear. UNI's Jordan Eglseder and Ali Farokhmanesh also netted 10 points in the game. Drake was led by Josh Young's 12 points and Adam Templeton's 10 points.
Drake's only lead of the contest came on a three-pointer by Frank Wiseler with 1:48 into the game. Wiseler's triple gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 advantage, which was soon eclipsed by a Kwadzo Ahelegbe jumper and a three-pointer from Johnny Moran. The Panther bench contributed right away with O'Rear and Marc Sonnen tallying buckets to up the lead to 11-4 with 13:44 left in the first half.
Templeton narrowed the margin to 13-8 on a pair of free throws with 11:41 left in the half, but a 7-0 run by the Panthers was ignited by a three-pointer from another sub Anthony James. Wiseler attempted to keep the Bulldogs close by hitting back-to-back scores with 5:15 and 4:09 left in the half to cut the margin to 24-20. But UNI was able to extend the margin to 34-24 at the half after a basket by Farokhmanesh with 4.4 seconds left before halftime.
The Bulldogs scored the first two buckets of the second half on a triple from Templeton and a steal and layup by Young to trim the Panther lead to 34-29 with 18:20 remaining in the game. However another 7-0 run by the Panthers pushed the margin to 12 at 41-29. UNI kept the lead at 12 following a jumper by Ahelegbe with 8:51 left in the game to make it 53-41.
Drake got two scores from Aaron Hawley and Young to narrow the lead to eight with 7:45 to play in the game. Templeton then missed an open three-pointer that would have cut the lead to five with 6:22 left. After that miss by Templeton, UNI tallied a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Adam Koch scored a basket and was fouled. Koch missed the free throw but O'Rear hustled to get the offensive rebound to extend the possession. O'Rear then finished off the run with a conventional three-point play that ignited the McLeod Center crowd of 6,069.
The capper came with 1:33 on the clock when Farokhmanesh hit Adam Koch with an alley-oop pass on a fastbreak and Koch stuffed it through with his right hand for a 67-49 lead. Drake's Seth VanDeest drained a pair of free throws with 1:10 left for the final 16-point margin, 67-51.
UNI will return to back Saturday at Missouri State. The Panthers and Bears will take to JQH Arena at 2:05 p.m.
NOTES: O'Rear's nine rebounds was a season-high and two off his career-high of 11 (set vs. Bradley on Jan. 21, 2009) ... UNI shot 56.5 percent from the field in the second half ... it marked the 7th time in 10 league games that UNI has held the opposition to 52 or less points ... the Panthers came into the game ranked No. 2 in the nation scoring defense (55.4) and following the contest, UNI is giving up 55.2 points per game ... UNI made 13-of-15 from the line to improve to 136-169 (80.5 percent) in MVC play.
