The UNI men’s basketball team went up against South Florida at home on Monday, Dec. 12. The Panthers came into the game looking for a victory coming off of two close losses. Unfortunately for the Panthers, South Florida was able to give them their third consecutive loss. 

South Florida came out hot to start the game. Specifically, it was their point guard Tyler Harris. Harris scored the first 11 points of the game for the Bulls. He made a layup and then a few threes, which brought them out to an early 11-2 lead. However, the Panthers did not back down and quickly answered with an 8-2 run. This put the score at 13-10 in favor of the Bulls. UNI had a rough time getting stops, as it seemed like South Florida was scoring nearly every time down the court. It looked like the Bulls were going to be up big at the half when they had a 35-21 lead with seven minutes left until the break. The Panthers had other plans, exploding for 20 points in the last seven minutes of the half. The first half had no shortage of points, and the Bulls led 42-41.

To start the second half, neither team was scoring at the same rate as they were in the first. The Panthers were struggling, only scoring 11 points in the first 12 minutes of the half. With eight minutes left in the game, they were down by nine points. At the pace they were scoring, it was going to be difficult to make their way back. However, Landon Wolf made a three-point basket that seemed to reignite the Panthers. They went on a quick 7-0 run and were just down two points with five minutes left in the game. 

After the run, UNI went into a long drought, and saw themselves down 65-59 with a minute and a half left. Born got his first two points of the game when he sank two free throws to put the Panthers down four. South Florida made two free throws on the other end and went up 67-61 with 42 seconds left. Quickly after, Tytan Anderson made a huge and-one for the Panthers. After he made the free throw, they were down just three. South Florida’s Harris went 1 for 2 from the line the next time down. 

Trey Campbell came down and hit a huge three-pointer for the Panthers directly after, cutting the lead to just one with 20 seconds left. The Panthers had to foul the Bulls, who only made one free throw, so UNI was down just two points with 13 seconds remaining. Bowen Born took the ball the length of the floor and made a difficult layup to tie it up with four seconds left. It looked like the game was going into overtime, but South Florida’s Harris took an improbable shot from the logo and sank it. The Bulls won in shocking fashion, 72-69. 

Anderson led the way for UNI, scoring 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds, both a team-high. Michael Duax performed well again after his double-double against McNeese, scoring 10 points with six rebounds. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 3-7 on the season. They will play next on Saturday, Dec. 17, at noon, traveling to the United Center in Chicago, home of the Chicago Bulls, for a neutral site matchup against Towson.