Indiana State men’s basketball fell at home to Northern Iowa on Saturday afternoon, 74-56 inside Hulman Center. The Sycamores fell to 9-12, 3-7 MVC while the Panthers improved to 13-8, 7-3 MVC.
Samage Teel got the Sycamores on the board at the 17:45 mark with a three from the top of the key, but it was the Panthers that led at the media timeout, 13-5, with 15:17 left.
UNI found its first double-digit advantage of the game on a Trey Campbell three-pointer at the 12:37 mark, 20-9, but two Jaden Daughtry layups brought the team back within seven with 11:15 to play.
The Sycamore defense held UNI without a basket for just about three minutes after the second media timeout at 16:09; the Sycamores scored only four points in the stretch. Daughtry scored seven straight for the Sycamores from 13:38 to 8:28. At the under-eight media, Indiana State was held to only 14 points with a game score of 24-14 in favor of the Panthers.
The shooting struggles were felt throughout the first half, as the Sycamores started the game 1-for-10 from deep. Markus Harding made the Sycamores’ second triple with just about 4:15 remaining in the first half.
Northern Iowa grew its lead to 17 with an 8-2 run, but back-to-back buckets by Teel and Camp Wagner cut the deficit down to 38-26 with about a minute to play. UNI took that lead into the locker room at the break.
Back-to-back triples by Indiana State’s Harding and Josiah LeGree brought the Sycamores back within double figures for the first time since just under seven minutes left in the first half.
Those three-pointers were part of a Sycamore 5-for-6 shooting effort, scoring on 6-of-8 possessions; the final bucket in the stretch came from a Harding three-pointer with 14:39 on the clock.
A Gray right-corner triple brought Indiana State within five, 50-45, with 11:38 on the clock, followed by a Daughtry layup to bring the Sycamores within a possession.
From 10:57 to 4:38, Indiana State was held without a field goal and scored only five points from the free throw line. Harding broke the drought with a layup at the 4:08 mark, but the Sycamores still trailed by 10, 64-54.
Indiana State scored one bucket the rest of the way, courtesy of a Jayan Walker floater at the rim, as Northern Iowa held on for the 74-56 victory.
Markus Harding led the scoring for Indiana State with 16 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the floor, including a 4-for-7 effort from three, grabbing eight rebounds. Aaron Gray notched 11 points and four rebounds with no turnovers in almost 31 minutes on the court. Jaden Daughtry scored 10 points.
