CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Illinois State got 16 points from sophomore guard Johnny Kinziger and 10 off the bench from Caden Boser; however, the Northern Iowa Panthers closed the game on a run, topping the Redbirds 68-65 on Saturday afternoon.
Kinziger scored 16 points to lead the Redbirds, while Caden Boser added 10 off the bench. Three others – Dalton Banks, Jordan Davis, and Ty Pence – scored eight points in the loss. Kinziger tied a career-high with nine rebounds, helping the Redbirds out-rebound the Panthers 33-to-32 for the game.
Banks gave out a team-best four assists, while Walker had three helpers, as Kinziger and Walker each had a trio of steals.
The Redbirds return home for a Wednesday, February 12 battle against the Drake Bulldogs in an 8 p.m. tip-off within CEFCU Arena.
Illinois State and Northern Iowa traded baskets early, and the Panthers held a one-point lead at 3-2 early before ISU ran off 11 straight points to push ahead to a 13-3 lead, and ISU's advantage reached as large as 14 following a Boser three-pointer with 11:16 to play. The hosts chipped away at the deficit, closing the gap to four at 36-32 heading into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half the lead was stretched back to nine points, and the Redbirds led by seven at 65-58 with 3:36 to play, before the ISU offense went cold, unable to find the bottom of the net for the remainder of the game, as UNI scored the final 10 points of the game to secure the three-point, 68-65 win.
Illinois State made 43.1 percent of its shots in the game (25-of-58), while converting on 11-of-27 (40.7%) from long range and made four of their five free throw tries. Northern Iowa made half of their 56 shot attempts and made good on seven of 12 from the charity stripe.
Northern Iowa was led by Tytan Anderson who scored 18 points, while Trey Campbell scored 12, with Jacob Hutson and Will Hornseth each scoring 11.
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois State used a starting lineup of 3 Dalton Banks, 4 Landon Wolf, 5 Jordan Davis, 11 Johnny Kinziger, and 35 Chase Walker
- It was the sixth time this season ISU has used this starting lineup
- The Panthers won the opening tip
- The first points of the game came from Landon Wolf on a lay-in with 18:39 to play in the first half
- It was the second time this season scored ISU's first points of the game
- The first sub for Illinois State was Caden Boser with 17:14 to play in the first half
- Illinois State led 36-32 at halftime
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Malachi Poindexter
- Tied his season-high with four rebounds
- Dalton Banks
- Led the team lead in assists, his 16th game this season leading or tying for the team lead in assists
- Johnny Kinziger
- Scored in double-figures for the 20th time this season and 33rd of his career
- Led the Redbirds in scoring for the seventh time this year
- Tied his career-high with nine rebounds and three steals
- Caden Boser
- Scored in double-figures for the fourth time this season
- Chase Walker
- Set a new career-high with three steals
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