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Northern Iowa Panthers @ Evansville Aces Basketball RecapEvansville 70, Northern Iowa 62
You recall the new hit television series that debuted last Autumn? The zombie show “The Walking Dead” might as well apply to the 2011 Missouri Valley Conference. Everybody wants to feast on everyone else. Teams that have little to no shot at the league title and are “dead” in a certain profound sense are making sure that other teams don’t live long enough to claim a piece of the Missouri Valley championship. Ned Cox dropped in a season-high 16 points, helping Evansville hold off a furious Northern Iowa rally and walk away with a 70-62 home win on Tuesday night. The win was the Purple Aces' fifth straight win at Roberts Stadium, making it the first time since 1997-98 that Evansville has won five straight home conference games. Northern Iowa had a great chance to move up the ladder in the Valley and make one final push in the defense of the regular-season championship it claimed in 2010. UNI didn’t know this when it took the court in Evansville, Indiana, but Southern Illinois stunned Wichita State on the road while this game was transpiring. The Panthers could have pulled within a game of the Shockers and created a genuine three-team sprint to the finish line in the league. This loss is likely the final nail in the coffin of the Panthers’ MVC title hopes unless league-leading Missouri State falls off a cliff the next three weeks.
Facing an early deficit, the Aces took control late in the first half, going on a 10-3 run to put themselves up 34-24 heading to the locker room. And they came out firing in the second half, as an 8-2 run give them their biggest lead of the game at 42-26 with fifteen minutes left. The Panthers went to work after that, slowly chipping away at the lead. And with 1:43 left, they had pulled to within four at 58-54. The Aces, in need of some separation, found it by way of a 7-0 run that all but ended the Panthers’ hopes for a win.
Coach Marty Simmons has built a good passing team at Evansville, but that didn't show on Tuesday, as the Aces coughed up more turnovers than assists and allowed nine steals. Instead, they won on the strength of a 51 percent shooting night, dominance on the boards (a 35-28 advantage), and great defense that held the Panthers to 39 percent shooting and 25 percent shooting from three-point range. Head coach Ben Jacobson's Panthers did get 21 points from Anthony James and 15 from Johnny Moran, but their offensive struggles proved to be too much to overcome as they lost their second straight game after an eight-game winning streak. Cannibalism killed the Panthers, who must now look for a resurrection at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in early March.
By: Matt Zemek |