March 1, 2008

Final Stats

Evansville, Ind. - Sophomore forward Adam Koch tied his career high with 20 points to lead the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team to a 71-68 win over Evansville Saturday night at Roberts Stadium.

The win by the Panthers, coupled with Missouri State's 83-73 win over Indiana State tonight, gives UNI the sixth-seed in next week's State Farm MVC Tournament. The Panthers will face third-seeded Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals, Friday Mar. 7 at 8:30 pm at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.

Koch was joined in double-figures by senior center Eric Coleman, who posted his third straight double-double and 14th of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Travis Brown tied his season high with 14 points, making all four of his shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers. Evansville was led by Darin Granger, who came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points.

Evansville moved out to a 10-4 lead over the game's first six minutes, with Shy Ely scoring five of the Aces 10 points. UNI fought back from a 12-6 deficit with a 10-0 run to take a 16-12 lead with 8:53 on the clock, with Coleman accounting for six of the 10 points. The Panthers built their lead to as many as five, 20-15, but Evansville then scored nine straight points to go in front, 24-20. The Aces lead grew to as many as seven, 34-27, but UNI scored the final five points of the half, including a layup by Koch just before the first half horn. UE held a 34-32 lead at intermission.

The Panthers got off to a fast start to the second half, going on a 12-3 run over the first four minutes to open a 44-37 lead. Evansville pulled within 47-44 after a three-pointer from Ely with 12:26 on the block. Coleman and Koch combined for six straight UNI points to extend the Panthers lead to 53-46. Granger then got going, hitting three three-pointers over a two minute span, to get the Aces within one, and Victor Gomez gave UE the lead back, 58-57, with 6:23 left. Koch answered on the next possession, dunking home a lob, and UNI would not trail again. Brown hit a jumper and a contested three pointer to push the Panthers lead to 65-59 with 3:19 left. But Evansville rallied again, scoring six straight points to pull even, 65-all, on a Nate Garner put-back with 1:03 left.

Kerwin Dunham was fouled on the next possession, and made both free throws to put the Panthers back in front, 67-65, with 44 seconds left. The Purple Aces missed shots on their next two trips down the floor, and the Panthers made enough free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

UNI shot 56 percent from the field for the game, including a blistering 70 percent (12-for-17) in the second half. Evansville connected on 39 percent of its shots. The game features 53 fouls and 59 combined free throw attempts, with UNI going 21-for-33 at the line and UE making 22-of-26.

With the win, UNI improves to 17-13 overall, 9-9 in the MVC, while Evansville falls to 9-20, 3-15.