Sycamores drop heartbreaker at home to Panthers

The Sycamore men's basketball team has lost a lot of games this season just like its 61-57 loss Saturday to Northern Iowa at home.

The Sycamores stayed in the game the entire game and even held a seven-point halftime lead. In fact, the Sycamores held the lead until 4:23 mark in the second half when UNI took the lead it would eventually maintain for the Panther win.

After the loss, the Sycamores are 4-18 overall and 2-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference. After the win, the Panthers are 16-6 overall and 10-1 in the MVC.

One thing the Sycamores did well was not turn the ball over. ISU averages 15.5 turnovers per game and only committed 11 for the game.

While the turnovers did not present a problem for ISU, post defense became the Achilles' heel for the Sycamores. Size in the paint was an issue for ISU. UNI junior center Jordan Eglseder is seven-foot-one and 290 pounds and he was able to muscle his way. Another reason the Sycamores struggled to stop UNI in the paint was because the UNI big men caught the ball so close to the basket.

"We didn't fight enough [in the paint]…we didn't make them catch it far enough away from the basket," ISU head coach Kevin McKenna said after the game.

ISU senior forward/ center Jay Tunnell echoed those sentiments. "When they're catching it as deep as they were, it's hard to stop," Tunnell said.

For the game, UNI outscored the Sycamores 34-14 in the paint. The Sycamores' post defense has been a strong point this season, McKenna said.

"We've fought pretty hard in the past," McKenna said. The reason the Sycamores were able to jump out to a lead in the first half was mainly due to red-hot shooting from the field, especially behind the three-point line. The Sycamores shot 64.3 percent in the first half from behind the three-point line, 50 percent from the field, overall.

Freshman guard Jordan Printy started the game and was very efficient from the field as he went four-for-nine from the field and four-for-six from behind the three-point line. For the game, he scored 14 points.

Junior guard Harry Marshall also really helped the Sycamores jump out to the first-half lead. He led the Sycamores for the game with 15 points, scoring 13 of those in the first half. Marshall also led the Sycamores in rebounds with six, along with freshman guard Carl Richard.

The Sycamores beat UNI in double overtime earlier this season in Iowa and Marshall said sweeping UNI in the season series would be a big confidence booster for ISU.

"We have proven to ourselves we can beat a top-league team," Marshall said. "It's hard to be a team twice."

Junior forward Adam Koch led the Panthers in scoring with 14 points. He also led the team in rebounds with seven for the game. UNI had two other scorers in double figures: Eglseder with 13 and freshman guard Johnny Moran with 12.

Besides Printy and Marshall, the Sycamores had two other scorers in double figures: Tunnell with 10 and junior guard Rashad Reed with 13.

The Sycamores only got to the free-throw line nine times compared to UNI's 22 foul shots. The Sycamores shot well from the stripe, however, as they hit eight of those nine shots. The Sycamores next play Wichita State at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Hulman Center.

At halftime, the 1979 Indiana State team that went to the National Championship game and lost to Michigan State was honored. Tunnell said one piece of advice the players from that team gave the current Sycamores was pertinent to Saturday's game.

"I can't remember who said it, but he said when you got a team on the ropes, you got to finish the game," Tunnell said.