Earlier this season, the UNI Panthers and Loyola-Chicago Ramblers met in front of a sellout crowd in the McLeod Center. The Panther men prevailed in overtime over their MVC rivals, indicating two evenly matched conference foes. This past Saturday, the two met again in Chicago for the second of two meetings this season. Much like the first game, the Ramblers would eventually take the game in overtime, winning 82-73.

All five of the UNI starters logged over 40 minutes of play in the contest, with the Panther bench only registering 10 combined minutes of action. Each UNI starter was in double figures for the contest as well, lead by AJ Green’s 19 points on eight out of 23 shooting from the field, along with only three out of 11 from three point range. Redshirt sophomore forward Austin Phyfe put up big numbers as well, with 12 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and shooting a perfect six out of six from the field. Spencer Haldeman had 16 points with four three-pointers. Trae Berhow made three three-pointers to go along with his 13 points and seven rebounds for the game and Isaiah Brown rounded out the Panther starters with 11 points.

Perhaps the biggest flaw for UNI in this game was their turnovers, as they committed a total of 16 for the contest. The Panthers also struggled to get to the line, as they only took two for the whole game and made one. Loyola would out-score the Panthers in the final period 11-2, taking the nine-point victory.

The loss drops Northern Iowa to 11-3 in conference play, now only one game ahead of Loyola, who currently sits at 10-4. The Panthers, who were possibly looking at a top-25 ranking had they won this game, now drop to 22-4 overall on the season.

They will take on Indiana State next Thursday on the road in Terra Haute before returning home to Cedar Falls on Sunday, Feb. 23 against Southern Illinois. Senior night will be on Wednesday, Feb. 26 against Evansville before rounding out conference play on Feb. 29 at Drake.