TERRE
HAUTE, IN - (2-26-2003) — The
visiting Northern Iowa Panthers cruised to a 59-39 victory over the Indiana
State men's basketball team on Wednesday night in the Hulman Center. UNI scored
10 of the game's first 12 points in the first 4:43 of the MVC contest.
The victorious Panthers (10-15/6-10 MVC) landed three players in double figures, led by 15 from reserve guard Ryan Paulsen, 11 from another guard Chris Foster and 10 from forward David Gruber in the win. UNI also got a game-high 12 rebounds from forward Matt Scheidermann. The Sycamores (6-21/2-14 MVC) were led by freshman sensation David Moss who scored a game-high 16 in the loss and freshman teammate Ted Morris chipped in 10. For Morris, eight of his 10 points came in the second half, plus he managed to pull down a team-high and career-high seven rebounds in the loss.
The Panthers' held a 10-2 lead with 15:17 remaining in the opening half before the Sycamores scored the next seven points to cut it to three, 12-9, with 12:31 remaining. Following the Sycamore charge at the UNI lead, the Panthers managed to hold the host Sycamores to only six more points in the opening half; whereas, the Panthers managed to score 19 themselves en route to a 31-15 lead at the halftime break. The Panther defense held the Sycamores to 24% shooting from the field; meanwhile, the Panthers were blistering the Hulman Center nets shooting at a blistering 57.1% (12-for-21) in the opening 20 minutes.
The red-hot shooting by Northern Iowa continued in the second half as the visiting Panthers shot 50% (12-for-24) compared to 25% (5-for-20) for the host Sycamores. The Panthers jumped out to a game-high 23-point lead, 44-21, following a Paulsen three-pointer and a jumper by Foster. The Sycamores cut the deficit down to 16 with 3:58 remaining before UNI stretched its lead back to 22, scoring the next six points en route to the 59-39 victory.
Up next for Indiana State is its home finale on Saturday, March 1 at 1:05 p.m., CST against Illinois State. Following the contest, Indiana State will honor seniors Brian Giesen and Matt Broermann. Live Internet Audio Streaming coverage on USA-365.com begins with the pre-game show at 12:40 p.m., CST.