CEDAR FALLS, Iowa  – Four players scoring in double-figures, led by Seneca Knight's 16 points were not enough to overcome the Northern Iowa Panthers on Wednesday evening, falling inside the McLeod Center by a 65-63 final score.
Knight scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field along with a team-high seven rebounds. Luke Kasubke scored 15 points while Darius Burford scored 14 and Malachi Poindexter 13. Kasubke and Poindexter each dished out two assists to lead the team, while Burford led the team with two steals.
The Redbirds struck first with a Kasubke three-pointer, and the teams were tied at five before Northern Iowa ran off a 6-0 run to take a lead it would not give up until the late moments of the half. An 11-2 UNI run pushed the hosts' lead to double-digits at 22-12 – the Panthers' largest lead of the half. Trailing by 10 with 3:27 to play in the opening half, the Redbirds went on an 11-1 run to tie the game at 30, before a UNI three-pointer at the halftime buzzer gave the hosts a three-point, 33-30 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half the lead changed hands eight times and was tied twice, as the largest lead by either team over the final 20 minutes was six. Leading by one, Poindexter knocked down three free throws to extend the lead to four before Knight followed with a dunk to put the Redbirds ahead by half a dozen points at 51-45. The hosts responded with a 14-4 run to lead by four, and never trailed again in the two-point Panther victory.
Illinois State made 47.9 percent of their shots for the contest, including making half of its 26 shots in the second half, and made 12-of-15 (80%) from the charity stripe. Northern Iowa converted on 44.9 percent of its shots in the game, and was 12-of-27 (44.4%) from beyond the arc.
The Redbirds held MVC-leading scorer Bowen Born to just 11 points; however, the hosts got a career-high 20 points from Trey Campbell, who made 6-of-7 three-pointers in the game.
ISU returns home on Saturday, January 21 when the team hosts the Valparaiso Beacons inside CEFCU Arena in a Black Out as fans are encouraged to wear black for the game.
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois State is now 8-12 (3-6 MVC) on the season while Northern Iowa is 10-9 (6-3 MVC).
- Illinois State used a starting lineup of 0 Luke Kasubke, 1 Malachi Poindexter, 10 Darius Burford, 22 Kendall Lewis, and 23 Harouna Sissoko
- This is the third consecutive game that this lineup has been used this season.
- Tonight's game is the 89th time these two teams have met on the basketball court
- Illinois State leads the all-time series 45-44
- Northern Iowa won the opening tip.
- The first Illinois State points of the game came with 18:23 to play in the first half on a Luke Kasubke three-pointer
- Illinois State's first sub was Liam McChesney with 16:57 to play in the first half.
- Northern Iowa led 33-30 at halftime
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Luke Kasubke
- Reached double-figures in points for the sixth time this season, and sixth time in his career
- Malachi Poindexter
- Scored in double-figures for the third time in his last four games, and seventh time this season and in his career
- Made all three of his free throw tries, taking him to 30-of-30 at the free throw line this season
- Seneca Knight
- For the fourth consecutive game, reached double-figures in scoring
- The double-figure scoring game was his 11th of the season and 55th of his career.
- Darius Burford
- Scored in double-figures for the fifth consecutive game, the 13th time this season and 40th of his career.
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