Jan. 9, 2010
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NORMAL, Ill. -
In a matchup of two of the Missouri Valley Conference's top teams, league-leading Northern Iowa got the better of Illinois State Saturday in a 59-44 victory on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds were held to a season-low 44 points while shooting just 37.5 percent from the field. Alex Rubin led the way for the Redbirds with a career-high 13 points, thanks to a 4-for-5 effort from three point range. Dinma Odiakosa also finished in double figures with 10 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to record his fifth double-double of the season. UNI's Jordan Eglseder led all scorers with 16 points, while Adam Koch finished with 15 points and Kwadzo Ahelgbe tallied 13 points for the Panthers.
UNI jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead after a jumper by Johnny Moran with just under 18 minutes left on the clock, but back-to-back three-pointers from Osiris Eldridge and Rubin gave the Redbirds an 8-6 advantage just a minute later. The two teams then traded baskets, before Rubin hit his second trey of the game to give ISU an 11-8 lead before Moran connected from long range to knot the score at 11-11 at the 13:47 mark.
Illinois State regained the lead 13-12 on an Austin Hill jumper, before the Panthers ripped off six straight points to take an 18-13 lead at the 9:18 mark on a jumper in the lane by Adam Koch. The Redbirds quickly cut into that lead at 18-16 after a three-pointer at the top of the key by Lloyd Phillips with 8:48 left in the half, but the Panthers answered with 9-0 run to extend the lead to nine points at 27-16 after three-straight baskets by Eglseder.
Odiakosa put an end to the ISU scoring drought that lasted over six and a half minutes to cut the lead back to single digits at 27-18 with 2:18 to play, but another bucket by Eglseder gave the Panthers an 11- point advantage at 29-18 just seconds later. Hill hit another jumper with 43 seconds remaining to cut the lead back to nine, but Ahelegbe nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key with six seconds left in the half to send the Panthers into the locker room at halftime with a 32-20 lead.
The 20 points scored by the Redbirds in the first half marked their lowest first-half output of the season, falling below the 23 points scored in the first half at Ohio on Dec. 16.
UNI maintained a double-digit advantage for the first four minutes of the second half, until a reverse spinning layup on the baseline by Eldridge and a layup by Odiakosa cut the lead to nine points at 37-28 with just under 16 minutes left on the clock. However, that would be as close as ISU would get, as the Panthers controlled the next eight minutes of play and extended their lead to 46-30 with 8:05 left to play on a jumper by Ahelegbe.
The Panthers later widened the lead to 50-31, before Rubin connected on back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 50-37 with 5:41 left to play. Another jumper in the lane by Odiakosa at the 2:50 mark capped off a 10-2 run by the Redbirds that cut the lead to 52-41. A free throw by Ahelegbe then gave the Panthers a 53-41 lead with 1:38 to play, but a three-pointer by Eldridge cut the lead to single digits at 53-44 with 1:15 to play.
UNI would hold on down the stretch, though, and hit six free throws to come away with the 59-44 victory. The Redbirds return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 13, for their second game against the Evansville Purple Aces in a week. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
