No. 23 UNI Rambles Past Loyola, 67-58

The University of Northern Iowa Panthers beat the Loyola Ramblers on Sunday, January 4, 2015, 67-58.  UNI is off to a 12-2 start this season.

Jeremy Morgan scored a career-high 18 points and No. 23 Northern Iowa beat Loyola of Illinois 67-58 for its third win in four games.

Deon Mitchell added 13 points and the Panthers (12-2, 1-1 Missouri Valley) bounced back from their first conference loss by holding off the upstart Ramblers (11-3, 1-1).

The Panthers entered play ranked 10th with 32.2 points a game from its backups. But Northern Iowa got just 16 from the reserves Sunday as Morgan and the rest of the starters took over both ends of the floor.

"Right now, his effort is at the highest it's been. I think that's helped him on the defensive end of the floor. I think it's helped him offensively," Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said about Morgan.

Northern Iowa pushed a four-point halftime lead to 59-41 on Seth Tuttle's layup with 5:31 left. Loyola responded with 11 quick points before its late rally fell short.

Milton Doyle had 13 points for Loyola. The Ramblers fell a victory short of their first eight-game winning streak in 30 years.

Both teams shot over 50 percent in the first half, which ended with Northern Iowa ahead 32-28. But the Ramblers went 4 minutes without scoring and left Mitchell wide open for a 3 to give the Panthers their first double-digit lead, 39-28.

Tuttle's 3-point play made it 50-38 midway through the second half.

The Panthers missed seven free throws in the last 3 minutes, allowing Loyola to hang around until the final seconds.

"It was extremely important coming off the (loss) that we had," Jacobson said.