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CEDAR FALLS — It was a perfect afternoon for UNI basketball fans.
The Feb. 15 matchup against in-state rival Drake kicked off with a pregame ceremony in which former Panthers guard AJ Green saw his jersey retired. And the current Northern Iowa players followed that up with a convincing 86-62 win over the Bulldogs.
UNI improved to 17-10 overall and 9-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake fell to 12-16 and 6-11.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of Northern Iowa’s win over Drake.
More: UNI retires AJ Green's jersey, but Panther players can still wear No. 4
Jalen Quinn is Drake’s leading scorer – with 19.8 points per game – and he has started all but one game this season. Owen Larson has started all but one game – the first game he played this season, against UAB on Dec. 5 – since returning from an injury sustained last season at South Dakota State.
But neither player earned a spot in the starting lineup against Northern Iowa.
Their slots went instead to Jaehshon Thomas – who hadn’t been in the starting lineup since Dec. 21 – and Isaiah Carr – who started just one game, against SIUE on Nov. 14.
Slowing down opponents' 3-point shooting has been a struggle for Drake, and the Bulldogs could not contain one Panthers player in particular. Weisbord recorded six 3-pointers against the Bulldogs, his personal best in a UNI jersey (he had seven in a game while playing for Northern Michigan).
Weisbrod accounted for half of the Panthers’ 3-pointers, with the home team making 12 total – compared to Drake’s seven.
In his fourth game back from injury, Smith made an obvious impact against Drake. Coming out of a media timeout midway through the second half, he scored on a second-chance hook shot, tipped the ball away from a Bulldogs player and came away with the steal, and scored again on the next possession.
He made moves like that throughout the game, even with limited minutes. He started 15 games between November and January but missed a month of games due to a hip injury. Smith finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Bulldogs' bench put on a show, scoring more than half of Drake's points. Most of those points came from Quinn, though, who dropped a team-high 20 against the Panthers despite not starting the game. Larson contributed nine, Griffen Goodbary added eight and Braden Appelhans had five.
Drake trailed 38-29 at halftime before the Panthers pulled away with a hot hand in the second half. UNI made 18-of-29 shots in the second half, which included six of those 12 total 3-pointers.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at [email protected] or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UNI basketball defeats Drake in Cedar Falls
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The Feb. 15 matchup against in-state rival Drake kicked off with a pregame ceremony in which former Panthers guard AJ Green saw his jersey retired. And the current Northern Iowa players followed that up with a convincing 86-62 win over the Bulldogs.
UNI improved to 17-10 overall and 9-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake fell to 12-16 and 6-11.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of Northern Iowa’s win over Drake.
More: UNI retires AJ Green's jersey, but Panther players can still wear No. 4
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2 … as in two new starters in Eric Henderson’s lineup
Jalen Quinn is Drake’s leading scorer – with 19.8 points per game – and he has started all but one game this season. Owen Larson has started all but one game – the first game he played this season, against UAB on Dec. 5 – since returning from an injury sustained last season at South Dakota State.
But neither player earned a spot in the starting lineup against Northern Iowa.
Their slots went instead to Jaehshon Thomas – who hadn’t been in the starting lineup since Dec. 21 – and Isaiah Carr – who started just one game, against SIUE on Nov. 14.
6 … as in six 3-pointers from Max Weisbrod
Slowing down opponents' 3-point shooting has been a struggle for Drake, and the Bulldogs could not contain one Panthers player in particular. Weisbord recorded six 3-pointers against the Bulldogs, his personal best in a UNI jersey (he had seven in a game while playing for Northern Michigan).
Weisbrod accounted for half of the Panthers’ 3-pointers, with the home team making 12 total – compared to Drake’s seven.
14 … as in 14 points scored by UNI's Tristan Smith
In his fourth game back from injury, Smith made an obvious impact against Drake. Coming out of a media timeout midway through the second half, he scored on a second-chance hook shot, tipped the ball away from a Bulldogs player and came away with the steal, and scored again on the next possession.
He made moves like that throughout the game, even with limited minutes. He started 15 games between November and January but missed a month of games due to a hip injury. Smith finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
42 … as in Drake's bench accounted for 42 points
The Bulldogs' bench put on a show, scoring more than half of Drake's points. Most of those points came from Quinn, though, who dropped a team-high 20 against the Panthers despite not starting the game. Larson contributed nine, Griffen Goodbary added eight and Braden Appelhans had five.
62 … as in UNI shot 62.1% in the second half
Drake trailed 38-29 at halftime before the Panthers pulled away with a hot hand in the second half. UNI made 18-of-29 shots in the second half, which included six of those 12 total 3-pointers.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at [email protected] or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UNI basketball defeats Drake in Cedar Falls
Continue reading...
