University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Evansville
Panthers Tally 65-53 Win Over Purple Aces
1/4/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team notched its first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season on Tuesday with a 65-53 triumph in the McLeod Center over the Evansville Purple Aces.
UNI (10-5 overall, 1-2 MVC) used 14 points from Anthony James, 13 points from Jake Koch and 11 points off the bench from Marc Sonnen to key the win. Evansville (7-6 overall, 1-2 MVC) was led by Colt Ryan's game-high 15 points.
Koch hit a 3-pointer with 14:47 to go in the first half that gave the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish, which ignited an 8-0 run. The Panthers hit four 3-pointers in the opening 8:10 of the game to post an 18-9 advantage.
Sonnen buried his second 3-pointer of the game at the 4:25 mark to push the Panthers lead to 27-16 and forced Evansville head coach Marty Simmons to take a timeout. The Purple Aces responded and trimmed the lead to 27-23 following a 3-pointer from Ned Cox with 2:28 left in the half.
UNI hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 1:39 of the half to take a 30-23 lead into intermission. It marked the 12th straight game this season that UNI has led at the half.
The Panthers moved the lead to 11 at 41-30 following Sonnen's third triple of the game with 15:24 left. But a 7-0 run from Evansville pulled the Purple Aces to within 41-37 wiht 13:57 remaining in the game. The final two points of the Evansville run came after a technical on UNI head coach Ben Jacobson.
Following the technical foul, Kerwin Dunham completed a conventional 3-point play while Koch and Kwadzo Ahelegbe swished a pair of 3-pointers to give UNI a 50-40 lead with 10:56 left in the contest.
Evansville would get no closer and then eight points the rest of the way and UNI eventually pushed the lead to 65-49 in the closing minutes.
UNI will travel to Indiana State for a Friday matchup with the Sycamores in Terre Haute, Ind. UNI will return home Sunday for a game against Bradley at 6 p.m. in the McLeod Center.
NOTES: UNI won the rebounding battle, 30-19 ... UNI's Jake Koch had his consecutive free throw streak halted at 29 in a row - 3 away from the UNI record held by Bill McCoy ... UNI's Johnny Moran made a 3-pointer in his 17th consecutive game ... the game was tied once at 7-7 ... Evansville did not lead.
