UNI Advances in CIT With 77-66 Win Over North Dakota

Wednesday, March 20

Cedar Falls, Iowa

7:00 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

North Dakota

UNI Advances in CIT With 77-66 Win Over North Dakota

3/20/2013 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: UNI Athletics Communications

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team advanced to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament with a 77-66 win over North Dakota.

UNI (19-14 overall) used a game-high 24 points from senior guard Anthony James. Marc Sonnen drilled five three-pointers and scored 19 points for the Panthers. Sophomore forward Seth Tuttle also tallied 19 points.

North Dakota was led by Troy Huff with 22 points.

UNI led from start to finish after opeing up a 7-0 lead just 2:04 into the game. UNI pushed the margin to 10-2 after Sonnen's second 3-pointer of the game wiht 16:35 on the clock. North Dakota cut the lead to 14-13 on a dunk from Huff with 13:07 left in the first half.

UNI went on a 9-0 run to take a 23-13 lead with 10:25 left. The run was capped by a Jake Koch 3-pointer.

The Panthers closed the half on 10-2 run to take a 41-28 lead at the intermission.

UNI added to the lead and pushed the margin to 19 at 49-30 with 14:45 left in the second half. Altogether, the Panthers went on an 18-4 run to turn a 31-26 lead into the 19-point lead.

North Dakota (16-17 overall) would get as close as nine points at 66-57 and 75-66 but could not trim the margin any closer.

UNI will play its second round game in the CIT on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the McLeod Center. The opponent is to be determined.

NOTES: UNI tied its single-season record for home wins with 14 ... UNI has won a postseason game in four consecutive seasons ... UNI's Marc Sonnen set the school record for games played with 136 ... UNI's Jake Koch is No. 2 on the games played list with 135 (tied with Johnny Moran) ... UNI has made 258 three-pointers this season to rank as the second-best total in school history (UNI made 267 three-pointers last season) ... James scored 20-plus for the second straight game and for the 11th time in his Panther career.