After opening Missouri Conference play with back-to-back home victories against Southern Illinois and Belmont, the UNI men’s basketball team dropped their next two games against Valparaiso and Murray State by only a combined 10 points. With Northern Iowa’s conference record now at 3-2, thanks to an early-season victory against UIC, the Panthers looked to climb to third place in the MVC with a win at Illinois State on Jan. 11. With the all-time series between the Panther and Redbird men knotted up at 45-45, returning to Cedar Falls with a crucial win would prove challenging. However, thanks to a career night from Trey Campbell and late-game heroics from Tytan Anderson, the Panthers walked away from Normal, Illinois, with a grueling 85-84 victory.
UNI started hot against the Redbirds, registering two made threes in the first minute of action courtesy of Anderson and Ben Schwieger. Then, a mid-range jumper from Leon Bond III saw the Panthers jump to an early 8-3 lead. Bond III would end the contest with six points and a team-high two blocks, continuing to make a name for himself on the defensive end this season. Yet, a methodical 18-12 Illinois State run put the Redbirds up 21-20 midway through the opening frame. A pair of Schwieger free throws and a jump shot by Jacob Hutson brought Northern Iowa within single digits entering the last minute of first-half play. Schwieger finished with 14 points on an efficient 5-7 from the field, while Hutson added eight points and made all four free throw attempts.
As the first half’s final seconds ticked away, the Panthers pulled down a mid-range miss from leading Illinois State scorer Chase Brown. Anderson raced down the court to lay the ball in for UNI, cutting the Redbird advantage to 36-43 at the break. Unbeknownst to Anderson, this would not be his only opportunity to beat the buzzer in this game…
Campbell began to see flashes of a potential career night early in the contest, returning to second-half action having already scored 11 points with three early 3-pointers. With his shooting heating up, Campbell kept letting it fly from deep. He poured in a career-high 30 points and eight 3-pointers on 13 attempts. Campbell picked the right time to get hot, as 19 of his 30 points came within the final 10 minutes of the game. His scoring explosion helped the Panthers claw their way back into the game and showed off Campbell’s continuous marksmanship from range this year.
After trailing since the 9:29 mark in the first half, Northern Iowa finally got the lead back over 20 minutes of game-time later. Max Weisbrod drilled two consecutive 3-pointers to put the Panthers up 65-64 with 8:12 left on the clock. Weisbrod canned three triples throughout the match, tying his season high. He also contributed extensive time on the bench, playing a lofty 28 minutes in his sixth-man role for the Panthers.
With four minutes remaining, UNI again turned to Campbell for a lift, and he delivered. His final deep ball put the Panthers in front 74-72 with 4:04 left to play. The two teams continued to trade buckets before Redbird Johnny Kinziger approached the free-throw line with four seconds remaining. Kinziger sunk both shots, making the contest 83-84 in Illinois State’s favor. Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson called his final timeout to give his team one last opportunity to score.
Jacobson sent Schwieger to inbound the ball from the Illinois State baseline. Schwieger surveyed the floor and found Anderson sprinting to the left side of the court just beyond the charity stripe. Streaking down the sideline, Anderson used his speed to maneuver around two cautious Redbird defenders concerned with fouling beyond halfcourt. With a sliver of time remaining, Anderson used just one dribble to fly from the 3-point line to the rim and finish a left-handed layup over three defenders. After a video review, the officials concluded Anderson released the basketball just before time expired and gave the Panthers an 85-84 victory. Anderson finished with 14 points, a team-high seven assists and rebounds, two buzzer-beating layups, and one game-winner.
The Northern Iowa men’s basketball team travels to Indiana State on Jan. 25 to face the Sycamores in their first season meeting.
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