Jeremy Morgan achieves career milestone, but UNI falls at Evansville, 70-58

Northern Iowa senior Jeremy Morgan provided the sunshine Sunday, passing the 1,000-point mark for his career and becoming the 41st Panther to reach that mark.

Otherwise, it was a pretty gloomy day for UNI, which lost to Evansville, 70-58, at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. The loss starts Northern Iowa at 0-2 in Missouri Valley play, and is its fourth straight defeat overall.

'It's frustrating for the guys to practice well and then to come out and miss some open shots and miss some touches inside, because now you're battling uphill,' Northern Iowa Coach Ben Jacobson said, according to the Evansville Courier & Press.

The Purple Aces (10-5, 2-0) never trailed and led by 14 points at halftime. The lead got as wide as 21 points, but a pair of 3-pointers by Juwan McCloud helped cut the lead down in the closing minutes.

McCloud had 13 points coming off the bench for the first time in his career. He was the only Panther in double figures besides Morgan, who had 16 points, six assists, four rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals.

Freshman Jaiveon Eaves came of the bench to score a career-high 13 points to help the short-handed Purple Aces, who were missing two starters.

'Coach talked about players being out and I just came in, stepped up,' Eaves said in the Courier & Press. 'When I saw an opening, I just took my shot.'

The win was the fifth straight in the series for Evansville, which is now tied 25-25 overall.

Northern Iowa (5-8) returns to action Wednesday at Loyola (0-2, 10-5) with a 6 p.m. tip at Gentile Arena in Chicago.