CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Northern Iowa had five players score in double figures and splashed home 13 3-pointers to turn back visiting Missouri State, 95-75, here Sunday in a key Missouri Valley Conference matchup.
It marked the largest margin of defeat on the season for Missouri State (20-9, 11-5 MVC), which was led by Gaige Prim and Lu’Cye Patterson with 24 and 18 points, respectively. The Bears also got 11 points from Ja’Monta Black and 10 points from Donovan Clay. Prim also had a game-high 8 rebounds.
UNI’s top scorer was A.J. Green who scored 21, while Bowen Born and Noah Carter racked up 17 apiece.
MoState out-rebounded the Panthers, 30-29, and allowed just seven second-chance points behind 6 UNI offensive boards.
Northern Iowa (16-10, 12-4) took it to the visitors from the start, taking less than four minutes to build a double-figure lead, 13-2, while the Bears made just one of their first five shots.
The dust seemed to settle moments later with Prim scoring on back-to-back possession with a layup from Donovan Clay capping a 6-0 Bears run and make it a 15-11 contest.
Midway through the opening half, a layup from Patterson and triple by Jaylen Minnett got the Bears within 24-20 and had the ball twice with a chance to make it a two-point game. However, UNI’s short dry spell was soon answered with 3-pointers from Green and Trae Berhow to push the home side ahead by 10 in the blink of an eye.
Later I the half, UNI ran its offense through the foul line, getting 8 free throws down the stretch to take their biggest lead of the afternoon, 49-33, into the intermission.
Missouri State would trim its deficit to a dozen on a 3-pointer by Jaylen Minnett just over five minutes into the second half, but UNI responded with a frenzy of threes of its own, including two by Carter, to push ahead 69-49 at the 11:32 mark.
By the time Prim fouled out with 3:34 to go, the Panthers had an 85-67 lead.
All in all, the second half played fairly even with UNI owning a 46-42 scoring advantage behind nearly 60 percent shooting.
For the game, Missouri State shot 29-of-59 (.492) overall and 6-of-24 (.250) from 3-point range. MSU was also 11-of-15 (.733) at the line with just 11 turnovers.
Northern Iowa was 33-of-56 (.589) overall, 13-for-28 (.464) from distance and 16-for-23 (.696) at the foul line.
With two regular-season games remaining, the Bears find themselves a game out of first place and a half game out of second place.
Missouri State returns home Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the final regular-season home contest. The Bears take on Bradley for senior night.
