Indiana State proves to be too much for UNI in men’s basketball

CEDAR FALLS — Indiana State played like a first-place team should in a 77-66 win over Northern Iowa at McLeod Center on Sunday.

Picked two spots behind UNI in the Missouri Valley Conference’s preseason men’s basketball poll, the Sycamores continued an impressive first half of their season, getting their 13th win in 15 games and claiming sole possession of first in the league with Drake losing at Belmont on Sunday, 87-65.

A 19-6 Indiana State lead at the game’s under-12 media timeout was opposite of how the Panthers (7-8, 1-3) began in their road win at Missouri State on Wednesday night.

Perhaps most indicative of the Sycamores’ first-place status was routine and well executed re-extensions of leads back into double digits the three times the Panthers got within three possessions after their slow start.

“They’re a really good team and they’re hard to guard because you have to throw so many defenses at them with (Robbie) Avila popping and being able to shoot so well and all five of their starting guys being able to shoot it,” UNI center Jacob Hutson said. “It’s very difficult to guard the paint and the 3-point line when a team is that good offensively.”

Indiana State’s talent also was demonstrated by doing what it prefers — playing in transition, playing downhill and hunting 3-pointers.

Its fast start began by making six of its first seven shot attempts was bookended with an 8-for-9 stretch from the field — 5-for-6 from 3 — to end the first half with a 17-point lead.

Meanwhile, the final tally was indicative of the Sycamores’ first-place standing in the MVC in field goal and 3-point percentage — finishing 25-of-52 (48 percent) from the field and 15-of-34 (44 percent) from 3.

“I thought we had a lot of resiliency. It’s just about seeing how close to 40 minutes we can get and we weren’t quite there (this afternoon) in terms of playing a full, complete game,” UNI guard Bowen Born said. “Continuing to stay consistent with our work and our hard practices to continue to build off of this game and into the others (is important).”

While Indiana State (13-2, 4-0) flexed its muscle on offense, its defense also showed well, holding UNI to a 8-of-28 mark from the field in the first half, 22-of-57 (39 percent) for the game and a season-low 1-for-15 (7 percent) from beyond the arc.

“They do a really good job of guarding their position,” UNI Coach Ben Jacobson said. “They’re versatile enough to make switches with four players. When it gets into a situation where they’re head up and they’re guarding, all of them can stay in front. All of them are, for the most part, physical enough if it does get going downhill.

“They’ve got a good scheme and they fight you hard at that end.”

Born was the only Panther to seriously challenge Indiana State’s defense with regularity, scoring at all three levels en route to 11 first-half points and a game-high total of 27.

Moving forward comes with an unchanged approach for Jacobson’s team, which entered Sunday’s game with the good feeling of a season-high four-game winning streak.

“You just gotta keep coming back, regardless of the outcome,” Jacobson said. “That’s what this two months is about for everybody. We gotta be good at coming right back at it whether we win a game or lose a game.

“That’s the only way, big picture, that at the end of two months you're in the race.”

Jayson Kent led Indiana State with 24 points and was joined in double figures by Isaiah Swope, Julian Larry and Ryan Conwell who finished with 11, 10 and 10, respectively.

Jacob Hutson was the only Panther besides Born to reach double figures, finishing with 14 points.

UNI returns to action Wednesday at home against Illinois-Chicago (8-7, 1-3). Tipoff at McLeod Center is at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).