UNI’s Rally Comes Up Just Short at Drake, 70-67

The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team faced a 20-point second-half deficit and cut it to one in the closing seconds before falling to the Drake Bulldogs, 70-67.

UNI (13-14 overall, 7-8 MVC) was led by Seth Tuttle's 20 points and seven rebounds. Deon Mitchell added 16 points off the bench.

Drake (14-13 overall, 5-10 MVC) got 19 points from Richard Carter and 15 points from Trevor Berkeley in the victory.

Drake led 52-32 with 13:22 left in the game. The Bulldogs scored their final field goal of the game at the 7:46 mark to take a 62-44 advantage. The Panthers then put together a 16-0 run that left the lead at 62-60 with 1:12 remaining in the contest.

Mitchell made a layup with 26 seconds left to pull UNI to within a single point at 65-64. Drake's Carter then made 1-of-2 free throws with 16 ticks left. Mitchell then took the in-bounds pass and drove for a potential game-tying layup that rolled off the rim and Drake grabbed the rebound. Drake's Karl Madison made both free throws with 9.6 seconds left and UNI's Nate Buss missed his only 3-pointer of the game. Seth Van Deest knocked in a two more free throws with 2.9 seconds left and Mitchell drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final score of 70-67.

Next Up: UNI will return home and play host to the Illinois State Redbirds on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the McLeod Center.

NOTES:

UNI's 11-point halftime deficit was the largest the Panthers have faced all season
Tuttle scored the final 10 points of the first half for the Panthers and the first six points of the second half
Drake won the rebounding battle, 37-27
Mitchell collected a game-high four steals
Matt Morrison tied a season-high by making a pair of 3-pointers
UNI tallied 10 steals vs. the Bulldogs (season-high is 12 vs. Iowa State)
UNI's bench outscored Drake's bench, 34-15.

Categories: Cedar Valley Sports, UNI Panthers