|
 Falling behind No. 23 Northern Iowa by that much is an even worse
idea, given the Panthers' ability to defend and shorten games with
long possessions.
However, Evansville overcame a 28-12 deficit with a rally that could
brand the Purple Aces as a dark horse in the Missouri Valley
Conference this winter.
Guard D.J. Balentine scored 13 of his team-high 17 points after
halftime, and the Purple Aces allowed just 19 second-half points to
knock off Northern Iowa 52-49 in each team's conference opener at
the Ford Center.
"We've got so much respect for Northern Iowa," Evansville coach
Marty Simmons said. "I'm sure they missed some shots they would
normally make, but I thought our guys showed some grit."
Evansville (11-2) already has almost matched last season's win
total, when it went 14-19 and allowed 72.2 points per game. More
experienced and stronger physically, the Purple Aces are a
much-improved team on defense and under the boards.
The Panthers (11-2) mustered only six field goals in 19 attempts
after halftime.
 "They did a good job amping their intensity and energy level,"
Northern Iowa forward Seth Tuttle said. "We really didn't handle it
very well throughout the second half. They stepped it up, and we
never got a run going."
Tuttle's layup with 3:51 left in the first half provided the
Panthers with their 16-point advantage. At that point, Northern Iowa
was 12-for-20 from the field, having connected on eight consecutive
shots.
Evansville ended the half on an 8-2 run to crawl within 10 points,
then gradually reeled the Panthers in after halftime while playing
the visitors' slow pace.
"I just don't think we finished enough in the second half," Northern
Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said. "I thought in the last 10 minutes, we
executed decently and got shots we wanted, but we just didn't make
them.
"We did most of what we set out to do in the first half, and that
got us out to a nice lead, but to start the second half, I didn't
feel like we got great possessions offensively."
As the Panthers managed only six points in the second half's first
12:16, the Purple Aces worked their way back into contention behind
Balentine. The nation's fifth-leading scorer at 22.5 points per
game, Balentine scored nine in the first seven minutes of the second
half.
Balentine's two free throws with four minutes left gave Evansville
its first lead of the night at 44-43. Center Egidijus Mockevicius
put the Purple Aces ahead for good at 46-45 with 1:43 left, sinking
two foul shots after drawing Tuttle's fourth foul while battling for
an offensive rebound.
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Evansville outboarded Northern Iowa 21-11 after halftime and 36-27
for the night. Mockevicius hauled in a game-high 13, six on the
offensive boards, to go along with 12 points.
"Iggy does a lot of things that show up in the stat sheet," Simmons
said of Mockevicius, a 6-foot-10 junior from Lithuania. "He does a
lot of things which also don't show up in the stats. Without him, we
don't win this game."
After Tuttle fouled out with 45.2 seconds left on a charging call,
Balentine drove for a layup and a 48-45 lead with 15.2 seconds
remaining. Guard Jaylon Brown answered layups by Panthers guard Wes
Washpun by sinking four foul shots in the final seven seconds.
Guard Jeremy Morgan missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer as the
horn sounded. The crowd of 5,151 roared, and the Purple Aces
celebrated their first win over a ranked team since beating Wichita
State 71-67 on Jan. 13, 2013.
"Northern Iowa beat us pretty bad twice last year," Balentine said.
"We understand that we've come a long way. It's a huge
confidence-booster, starting 1-0 in conference with a win over a
great team. We're pretty excited, but we also understand we have a
lot to work on."
Tuttle tallied a game-high 18 for the Panthers, while Washpun added
11 off the bench.
NOTES: Evansville F Adam Wing (strained quad) missed his second
straight game, with sophomore G Mislav Brzoja replacing him in the
lineup. Brzoja scored five points. ... Northern Iowa's 33.1 bench
points per game rank eighth in Division I. ... The Panthers canned a
3-pointer in a 473rd consecutive game dating back to Feb. 3, 2000.
It is the longest streak of its kind in the Missouri Valley
Conference.
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