University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Wichita State
Panthers Post 77-74 Road Win at Wichita State
1/19/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
WICHITA, Kan. - Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Anthony James led the University of Northern Iowa Panthers to a 77-74 road victory over Wichita State on Wednesday night in Missouri Valley Conference action.
Ahelegbe tallied 21 points and James posted 20 points as the Panthers moved to 14-6 overall and 5-3 in league action. Ahelegbe made 10-of-12 free throws and James drained 9-of-13 shots from the field.
"It's a tough place to play," Ahelegbe said. "It was on the road and we had to grind it out. It was a great team effort."
The Shockers led 62-58 with 5:54 left to play, but the Panthers went on a 12-2 run to take a six-point lead with 2:27 remaining. Johnny Moran drained a 3-pointer with 5:33 to go and James sank a triple with 2:47 left to key the Panther spurt.
Wichita State hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 14.2 seconds but the Panthers' Moran and Jake Koch each made a pair of free throws to give UNI the win.
However, the win wasn't secured until WSU's David Kyles' 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short.
WSU fell to 15-4 overall and 6-2 in MVC play. It was the second straight home loss for the Shockers.
UNI will return home to take on the Drake Bulldogs on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the McLeod Center.
NOTES: UNI came into the game ranked No. 3 the nation in turnovers per game and turned the ball over only six times against the Shockers ... it was the 10th 20-point game of Ahelegbe's career ... it was the second 20-point game of James's career ... UNI made 16-of-20 free throws compared to WSU's 10-of-11 at the charity stripe ... WSU won the rebounding battle, 27-19 ... UNI shot 57.4 percent from the floor (it's second-best shooting effort of the season) ... it marked the first time UNI scored 70-plus points on the road and won a game since the 2009-10 season opener at Denver (71-65).
