Saturday, January 21
Carbondale, Ill.
7:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
11-10, (4-4)
57
vs
58
Northern Iowa
8-11, (3-5)
1
2
F
Northern Iowa
27
31
58
Southern Illinois
26
31
57
Northern Iowa overcomes 12-point deficit to top Men's Basketball, 58-57
01/21/2017 | 10:21:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Northern Iowa used a 16-3 run to overcome a 12-point deficit in the final six minutes and beat Southern Illinois, 58-57, on Saturday at SIU Arena.
Less than a week ago, the Panthers (8-11, 3-5) appeared left for dead, mired in a seven-game losing streak. Now, they've won three straight, beating Drake and Loyola at home, and tonight picking up their first road win of the season.
"I told the guys in the locker room I'm really happy for them and proud of them for getting themselves in position," said UNI coach Ben Jacobson.
After falling at Drake in overtime on Wednesday, the Salukis (11-10, 4-4) lost their second-straight heartbreaker. When Mike Rodriguez nailed a 3-pointer for Southern with 8:23 remaining to give his team a 54-42 lead, the season-high crowd of 5,015 roared its approval. At that point, no one could predict that SIU would miss 10 of its final 11 shots from the field.
"Every set we ran, our kids executed to perfection and we got great looks," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "We just could not get it in the basket."
Slowly but surely, UNI chipped away at the lead with free throws and points in the paint by center Bennett Koch, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and forward Klint Carlson, who added 10 points.
"After we got down 12, we threw the ball inside almost every possession," Jacobson said. "That allowed us to get points inside or a better shot on the perimeter."
The collar really tightened on the Salukis when UNI's Spencer Haldeman made a trey to cut it to 55-50 with 3:27 to go.
"We had a five-point lead at the 3:40 mark and I said, 'we don't have to score another bucket, all we have to do is get stops,'" Hinson said. "We didn't get stops on our end and they got stops on their end."
Rodriguez missed triples on back-to-back possessions for SIU, and buckets by Koch and Jeremy Morgan trimmed the lead to 55-54 with 1:50 left.
On its next possession, SIU made its only field goal of the final eight minutes when Rodriguez drew three defenders on penetration and flipped the ball to Thik Bol for an easy dunk. The three-point lead was short-lived, as Carlson made a layup to make it 57-56 with 48 seconds.
Armon Fletcher then missed a 3-pointer for Southern, but teammate Sean O'Brien was fouled on the loose ball. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, and the Panthers took a 58-57 lead on free throws by Jordan Ashton with 15 seconds.
SIU elected not to take a timeout, as Rodriguez brought the ball up the court, dribbled to his right, and launched an off-balance 3-ball that missed. Leo Vincent grabbed the offensive rebound and rushed a shot at the buzzer that fell well short.
"None of those possessions (in the final minutes) would I say to you were bad possessions," Hinson declared. "I thought we had really good looks."
Fletcher led Southern with 16 points. He had an amazing run at the start of the second half, in which he scored 14-straight points. UNI was double-teaming O'Brien in the post, and the Salukis deftly swung the ball to Fletcher for a pair of wide-open threes that he buried. The sophomore guard did not score during the final nine minutes of the game, however, as the Panthers stopped double-teaming O'Brien. Rodriguez had nine points, three assists and five steals, but after making his first three 3-pointers, he missed his last three.
SIU's offensive woes down the stretch were not lost on Hinson.
"We don't have an Anthony Beane this year — we don't have a guy who you can say — go score a basket," he said. "I think the pressure culminates and all comes on you."
The outcome of today's conference games jumbled the league standings, with six teams within two games of each other. Southern is right in the thick of it tied for fourth place with Loyola and Drake. The Salukis lead UNI and Bradley by one game and trail Missouri State by a game.
Less than a week ago, the Panthers (8-11, 3-5) appeared left for dead, mired in a seven-game losing streak. Now, they've won three straight, beating Drake and Loyola at home, and tonight picking up their first road win of the season.
"I told the guys in the locker room I'm really happy for them and proud of them for getting themselves in position," said UNI coach Ben Jacobson.
After falling at Drake in overtime on Wednesday, the Salukis (11-10, 4-4) lost their second-straight heartbreaker. When Mike Rodriguez nailed a 3-pointer for Southern with 8:23 remaining to give his team a 54-42 lead, the season-high crowd of 5,015 roared its approval. At that point, no one could predict that SIU would miss 10 of its final 11 shots from the field.
"Every set we ran, our kids executed to perfection and we got great looks," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "We just could not get it in the basket."
Slowly but surely, UNI chipped away at the lead with free throws and points in the paint by center Bennett Koch, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and forward Klint Carlson, who added 10 points.
"After we got down 12, we threw the ball inside almost every possession," Jacobson said. "That allowed us to get points inside or a better shot on the perimeter."
The collar really tightened on the Salukis when UNI's Spencer Haldeman made a trey to cut it to 55-50 with 3:27 to go.
"We had a five-point lead at the 3:40 mark and I said, 'we don't have to score another bucket, all we have to do is get stops,'" Hinson said. "We didn't get stops on our end and they got stops on their end."
Rodriguez missed triples on back-to-back possessions for SIU, and buckets by Koch and Jeremy Morgan trimmed the lead to 55-54 with 1:50 left.
On its next possession, SIU made its only field goal of the final eight minutes when Rodriguez drew three defenders on penetration and flipped the ball to Thik Bol for an easy dunk. The three-point lead was short-lived, as Carlson made a layup to make it 57-56 with 48 seconds.
Armon Fletcher then missed a 3-pointer for Southern, but teammate Sean O'Brien was fouled on the loose ball. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, and the Panthers took a 58-57 lead on free throws by Jordan Ashton with 15 seconds.
SIU elected not to take a timeout, as Rodriguez brought the ball up the court, dribbled to his right, and launched an off-balance 3-ball that missed. Leo Vincent grabbed the offensive rebound and rushed a shot at the buzzer that fell well short.
"None of those possessions (in the final minutes) would I say to you were bad possessions," Hinson declared. "I thought we had really good looks."
Fletcher led Southern with 16 points. He had an amazing run at the start of the second half, in which he scored 14-straight points. UNI was double-teaming O'Brien in the post, and the Salukis deftly swung the ball to Fletcher for a pair of wide-open threes that he buried. The sophomore guard did not score during the final nine minutes of the game, however, as the Panthers stopped double-teaming O'Brien. Rodriguez had nine points, three assists and five steals, but after making his first three 3-pointers, he missed his last three.
SIU's offensive woes down the stretch were not lost on Hinson.
"We don't have an Anthony Beane this year — we don't have a guy who you can say — go score a basket," he said. "I think the pressure culminates and all comes on you."
The outcome of today's conference games jumbled the league standings, with six teams within two games of each other. Southern is right in the thick of it tied for fourth place with Loyola and Drake. The Salukis lead UNI and Bradley by one game and trail Missouri State by a game.
Team Stats
UNI
SIU
FG%
.467
.386
3FG%
.364
.304
FT%
.800
.600
RB
30
32
TO
10
7
STL
1
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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