University of Northern Iowa
31-3
Wyoming
25-10
UNI Knocks Off Wyoming in NCAA Tournament, 71-54
3/20/2015 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SEATTLE, Wash. - The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team scored its largest NCAA Tournament victory in school history with a 71-54 triumph over the Wyoming Cowboys at KeyArena on Friday.
UNI (31-3 overall) had five players reach double-figure scoring and the Panthers enjoyed a 41-2 bench scoring advantage over Wyoming. UNI was led in scoring by Paul Jesperson (16), Seth Tuttle (14), Nate Buss (13), Wes Washpun (10) and Deon Mitchell (10). Tuttle also added nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The Cowboys (25-10) were led in scoring by Larry Nance Jr. with 16 points.
UNI came out blazing by draining 10 of its first 10 shots from the field. The Panthers used a 10-0 run to take an 18-9 lead with 13:05 left in the first half. UNI then went ice-cold from the field and made only one of its next 12 shots. But the Panthers ended the half with Deon Mitchell draining a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer.
The Panthers started the second half on an 11-1 run to take a 46-25 lead with 15:28 left in the game. Wyoming's Nance Jr. then took over and scored 12 straight points to pull the Cowboys to within 50-37 with 12:25 remaining.
The Cowboys continued to whittle away the lead and trimmed it to seven at 50-43 with 10:34 left. However, UNI's Paul Jesperson answered with a 3-point and Wes Washpun drained a jumper to push the lead back to 12.
Washpun would later add two free throws with 5:50 left to push the lead back to double-figures at 59-48. The lead remained in double figures for the rest of the contest.
UNI will play Louisville on Sunday. The game will be shown live on TBS at 8:40 p.m. (CT).
NOTES: UNI set a school record with 31 wins ... UNI's 41 bench points was the fourth-highest single-game total this season for the Panthers ... UNI improved to 4-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament ... it is the third win in the round of 64 for the Panthers (UNI also won round of 64 games in 1990 and 2010) ... Seth Tuttle started his 135th career game - tying him for first place on UNI's all-time games started list with Johnny Moran (2008-2012) ... Deon Mitchell started his 114th career game tying him for No. 5 on UNI's list with Eric Coleman (2004-2008) ... Tuttle played in his 135th career game tying him for No. 3 on the Panthers's all-time list with Johnny Moran and Chip Rank ... Mitchell played in his 134th game, which moves him into the No. 6 slot at UNI ... Mitchell added three assists to give him 370 in his career and move into a tie for No. 5 on UNI's all-time assist list with Chris Foster (2000-2005).
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
