University of Northern Iowa
Bradley
UNI, Sonnen Drain Threes to Stop Bradley, 84-53
1/12/2013 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team tied a school record with 15 made 3-pointers in Saturday's 84-53 win over the Bradley Braves in the McLeod Center.
UNI senior guard Marc Sonnen tied a McLeod Center record with seven made 3-pointers in the game. The only previous Panther to drain seven 3-pointers in a game was Adam Viet when he performed the feat against UMKC on Dec. 9, 2006.
The Panthers improved to 9-8 overall and 2-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Braves fell to 10-7 overall and 2-3 in the league. It was the Braves's third consecutive loss in MVC play.
All five UNI starters, plus redshirt freshman Matt Bohannon, reached double figures in scoring led by Sonnen's 21 points. Senior forward Jake Koch recorded his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
UNI started the game on a 22-2, which included a 19-0 spurt after Bradley scored its first two points of the game. The Panthers eventually pushed the lead to 30 points at 41-11 just before the half.
Bradley trimmed the margin to 14 points at 46-32 with 15:48 remaining in the game. But the Panthers responded and never allowed the margin to get any lower the rest of the way. The Panthers took its biggest lead of the night (34 points) in the closing minutes on a putback from sophomore forward Marvin Singleton, 84-50.
UNI will travel to Creighton on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. tip in the CenturyLink Center.
NOTES: UNI's 15 made 3-pointers tied a school record ... it's the fifth time in school history that UNI has made 15 3-pointers in a single game (at Bradley - 2/15/11; vs. Wartburg - 12/20/06; at Drake - 2/25/04; vs. Nebraska - 2/16/95) ... Sonnen's seven made 3-pointers left him one short of the school record of eight made 3-pointers by Cam Johnson (Feb. 12, 1994, at Drake) ... Sonnen also moved up to No. 7 on the Panthers' all-time 3-point FGs made list with 148 for has career ... Sonnen moved past Chris Foster (144) and Maurice Newby (146) ... it's the first time this season that the Panthers have all five starters score in double figures ... sophomore point guard Deon Mitchell set a career-high with seven assists ... Mitchell tied his season-high with four rebounds ... senior forward Jake Koch tallied the 100th block of his career and become the fifth Panther to reach the 100-block mark in his career (Grant Stout - 222; Jordan Eglseder - 120; Sean Hawkins - 118; Eric Coleman - 115) ... UNI improved to 23-1 when scoring 80 or more points under head coach Ben Jacobson ... UNI has won 18 straight games when scoring 80 or more points ... it's the fifth time this season UNI has scored 80 or more points in a game ... Jacobson improved to 12-4 all-time vs. Bradley ... Jacobson's 12 wins against Bradley is the most he has against any MVC school ... coach Jake is now 33-12 against MVC school in the state of Illinois (12-4 vs. Bradley; 10-3 vs. Southern Illinois; 11-5 vs. Illinois State) ... the 31-point margin is the largest for the Panthers in an MVC game since joining the league in the 1991-92 season ... UNI's previous largest margin of victory in an MVC game came in an 83-56 win over Indiana State (Feb. 4, 2006) ... under coach Jake, the Panthers had a 26-point victory over Southern Illinois, 81-55 (Feb. 11, 2009).
