Cedar Falls, Iowa – Northern Iowa's Jeremy Morgan erupted for 38 second-half points to lead the Panthers to a 78-70 victory over North Dakota Saturday at the McLeod Center.
Morgan, who was held scoreless in the first half, had all but 11 of his team's second-half tallies as the Panthers (5-4) erased a four-point halftime deficit to rally for their second straight win.
Senior Quinton Hooker scored a team-high 22 points for the Fighting Hawks (5-3) and junior Carson Shanks added a career-high 17 on an 8-for-10 effort from the field, but Morgan was a different player after halftime, going 10-for-12 from the floor and 16-for-22 from the foul line after a shaky start.
“I thought our guys played tremendous tonight and really showed a lot of grit even in a loss,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “I thought we played well offensively in both halves and really executed our defensive game plan, limiting them to only six 3-pointers.”
UND built an early nine-point lead thanks in large part to the play of Shanks, who had 11 points in four quick minutes off the bench to help his team claim a 16-7 lead. The Panthers quickly settled in, however, and answered with a 9-0 to even things at 16-16.
Hooker snapped that 9-0 run by UNI with a 3-pointer, but neither team would lead by more than four points until Morgan scored 17 straight during a game-altering stretch of the second half. That flurry by the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year gave his team its largest lead of the game at 63-55.
The first-half belonged to the visitors, who took a 33-29 lead at the break thanks to a corner 3-pointer by Corey Baldwin with two seconds left on the clock.
The Fighting Hawks overcame nine first-half turnovers by shooting 48 percent from the field, while holding the Panthers to a 36.7 percent clip. Shanks made his first five shots from the field to spark the fast start by the visitors, who trailed at home to UNI 54-20 at the half in last year's matchup.
UND would get within four points on a two-handed dunk by Shanks with 3:08 to play, but Morgan would 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in that closing stretch to dash UND's hopes of beating UNI for the first time at the Division I level.
A game after UNI set a school-record by making 20 3-pointers in a win over South Dakota State, the Panthers only attempted 15 tonight and made just six.
Hooker added five assists and five rebounds and helped UND hold a 34-32 edge on the glass. Sophomore Conner Avants finished with 12 points and a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore Geno Crandall added 10 points to give UND four double-figure scorers.
The Fighting Hawks return home on Friday to take on rival North Dakota State at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. Tip-off against the Bison is set for 8 p.m.
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