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Making its first appearance in the top 25 since the 2009-10
season, Northern Iowa (9-0) remained undefeated thanks to one of
the greatest first-half shooting performances in college
basketball history. The Panthers were 15-of-17 in the opening 20
minutes - including 11-of-11 from inside the arc - and finished
at 70 percent shooting, not to mention a crisp 19-of-23 effort
from the foul line.
Nate Engesser and Cam Griffin paced Denver (4-4) with 15 points
apiece. The Pioneers, who used nine players - all guards -
finished with a total of 13 rebounds and gathered only two of
their 22 missed shots.
Northern Iowa made its first seven shots, including two
3-pointers by Matt Bohannon, and already were ahead 19-8 when
Nate Buss misfired on a 3-pointer with about 11 minutes left in
the half to spoil the team's perfect shooting night to that
point. Bohannon missed a 3 about four minutes later, but
Northern Iowa received two late 3-pointers by Paul Jesperson and
cruised into halftime with a 42-25 lead.
Buss' layup with 14 minutes to go pushed the advantage to 50-30,
but Denver scored 13 of the next 17 points to make things
slightly interesting. Still, the Panthers never were threatened
down the stretch, as Wes Washpun had a layup and four free
throws in the final six minutes for Northern Iowa, which shot a
more human-like 6-of-13 from the field in the second half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: G Deon Mitchell had 11 points, as did Washpun,
while Jesperson chipped in 10 for Northern Iowa, which entered
ranked 89th in the nation in field-goal percentage (46.1). ...
The teams combined for three offensive rebounds. ... Every
player who attempted a shot for the Panthers shot at least 50
percent from the field, while Washpun was 7-of-7 from the line
to lead the impressive free-throw effort by Northern Iowa.
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