Southern Illinois University
17-4, 7-2MVC
Northern Iowa
11-7, 6-3MVC
Men's Basketball Upset by Northern Iowa, 69-64
01/26/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2002
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Missed free throws came back to haunt Southern Illinois as Northern Iowa upset the Salukis, 69-64, Saturday night.
Southern Illinois (17-4, 7-2), had its worst free throw shooting effort of the season, converting just 5-of-16 attempts for 31 percent.
The Salukis were led in scoring by Darren Brooks, who had 14 points. Rolan Roberts and Kent Williams added 12 apiece.
Northern Iowa (11-7, 6-3) jumped out to an early 14-8 lead with 14:40 left in the first half as Robbie Sieverding and Erik Smith each scored five points.
However, the Salukis countered with an 8-0 run on a jumper by Tyrese Buie, back-to-back layups by Roberts and a short jumper by Stetson Hairston. SIU led by as many as four points in the first half, but a late run by the Panthers put UNI up 32-29 at halftime.
The Salukis led briefly at the 6:33 mark of the second half on put back by Hairston, 50-49. But UNI answered with a 7-0 run to take a 56-50 lead with 5:18 remaining and never trailed thereafter.
Behind 58-52 with 2:53 left, SIU cut the deficit to 58-56 on a jumper by Roberts and two free throws by Brad Korn at 1:16, but Aaron Middendorf answered with a clutch 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to put UNI up by five.
"We had many chances," Southern Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. "But we didn't take advantage of it. They made the big plays, and we didn't."
"You can say free throws hurt us, but there were a lot of things we didn't do."
