University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Missouri State
UNI Wins 11th Straight; Posts 84-76 Win Over Missouri State
1/3/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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UNI senior center Jordan Eglseder posted game-highs with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while senior forward Adam Koch chipped in 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Missouri State saw four players reach double figures with Jermaine Mallett leading the way with 13 points.
The Panthers trailed by as many as seven points in the first half as the Bears posted a 14-7 advantage. But the Panther bench stepped up and rallied the Panthers to a 20-20 tie on the strength of two 3-pointers by Jake Koch and a triple by Anthony James. James' 3-pointer knotted the game at 20-20 with 7:55 to go in the first half.
"Our experience and our depth are making a difference," UNI head coach Ben Jacobson said. "Right now we are playing 10 guys and when you can get Jake Koch and Anthony James to come off the bench and score points that is huge."
Senior point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe drove for a layup and senior guard Ali Farokhmanesh dropped in a bucket to finish off a 9-2 run that gave the Panthers a 26-22 lead with 5:07 left in the half. Missouri State battled back and took a 34-32 lead with 52 seconds left on a conventional 3-point play from Caleb Patterson. But after a pair of missed shots, Kerwin Dunham drove the length of the floor and knotted the game at 34-34 on a layup right before the halftime buzzer.
The squads settled into an old fashioned Missouri Valley Conference battle in the second half that saw UNI make 15-of-17 free throws, while Missouri State made 16-of-20 from the charity stripe.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Dunham and Farokhmanesh gave the Panthers a 46-43 lead with 15:27 in the game. But Missouri State failed to yield and stormed back to take a 61-57 lead with 7:58 to go on a shot by Justin Fuehrmeyer.
The Panthers took control of the game after the 8-minute media timeout. UNI went on a 14-2 run that included three-pointers from Farokhmanesh and Moran. Moran drained a pair of free throws with 6:42 left to give UNI a three-point lead at 66-63, but a Panther turnover by Dunham was stymied when Farokhmanesh took a charge to ignite the McLeod Center crowd of 4,666.
UNI drained its final 10 free throws of the game and eventually pushed the lead to 84-72 in the final minute. A tip-in by Missouri State's Nafis Ricks pulled the final margin under double digits, but UNI was able to walk away with an 84-76 win.
UNI will travel to Southern Illinois to take on the Salukis in Carbondale, Ill., on Wednesday at 8 p.m. The game will televised nationally on ESPNU.
NOTES: UNI has made 54-of-58 free throws in league play for an astounding 93.1 percent ... the school record for most consecutive wins is 14 (final four games of 1962-63 and first 10 games of 1963-64) ... Eglseder posted his 13th career double-double and fourth this season ... UNI's win streak of 11 in a row trails only Kentucky (15), Kansas (13), Purdue (13) and Texas (13).
