Koch Carries UNI to Road Win at Valpo, 68-63

Tuesday, February 20

Valparaiso, Indiana

8 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

14-15 (6-11MVC)

Valparaiso

14-16 (5-12MVC)

UNI

Valparaiso

Koch Carries UNI to Road Win at Valpo, 68-63

2/20/2018 10:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score UNI-valpo-boxscore-2018-2

BOX SCORE (PDF)

VALPARAISO, Indiana - University of Northern Iowa senior forward Bennett Koch scored 25 points and joined the 1,000 point club for the Panthers in a 68-63 road victory over the Valparaiso Crusaders on Tuesday at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

UNI (14-15 overall, 6-11 MVC) shot a season-best 55.3 percent from the field, while holding Valparaiso (14-16 overall, 5-12 MVC) to 46.0 percent from the floor.

Koch was a perfect 8-of-8 from the field and buried 9-of-14 free throws as he became the 42nd UNI Panther to score 1,000 career points.

UNI's Spencer Haldeman drained a clutch three-pointer with :46.1 left to give the Panthers a six-point lead at 62-56. Haldeman added a free throw and Koch added two down the stretch to secure the five-point win.

UNI snapped an 11-game road losing streak with the triumph. UNI also secured either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed for the 2018 MVC Tournament held March 1-4 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

UNI will play its final regular season home game on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the McLeod Center against Missouri State. UNI will honor its four seniors prior to the game. Tickets to Saturday's game are $5.

NOTES: The Panthers led for 38:32 of the game and it was tied the other 1:28. Valpo did not hold a lead in the contest ... UNI made 22-of-32 free throws, while Valp made 8-of-13 at the free throw line ... Tywhon Pickford added seven more rebounds to give him 234 this season, which ranks as the eight-best single-season for an MVC freshman.