University of Northern Iowa senior center Jordan Eglseder returned from his three-game suspension to give the No. 22-ranked Panthers a bit of a spark Saturday night against the Illinois State Redbirds. Eglseder’s 13 points and six rebounds helped lead the Panthers (25-4, 15-3 MVC) to their first undefeated season at home in 46 years as they knocked off the Redbirds (21-9, 11-7 MVC) 61-55 in the McLeod Center.
Adam Koch chipped in with 12 points, five boards and a key block late in the game. Illinois State’s Lloyd Phillips and Osiris Eldridge each hit three-pointers to pull the Redbirds within 58-55 with 34.4 seconds remaining. But Koch swatted Dinma Odiakosa’s lay-up attempt and Johnny Moran hit a pair of free throws with 7 seconds left to help the Panthers hang on.
The Panthers clinched the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title Feb.16 with a home win over Creighton but waited until Saturday’s final game of the regular season to cut down the nets with their second conference title in a row.
“This is amazing. This is a picture-perfect regular season,” Eglseder said. “These were the best four years of my life.”
UNI maintained a slim lead to start the second half, jumping ahead 45-40 on Ali Farokhmanesh’s three-pointer with 8:16 left. Lucas O’Rear was called for an intentional foul shortly thereafter, but Illinois State could only squeeze one point out of a golden opportunity to seize momentum from the record crowd of 7,332.
Koch, who’d been slowed much of the night by Illinois State’s physical defense, made a breakthrough late in the game. He scored on a break-away slam dunk, knocked in a soft bank shot and then nailed two free throws to make it 53-45 with just under four minutes remaining in regulation.
“It was fitting (Koch) made a few plays down the stretch. He’s been our most consistent player,” said UNI head coach Ben Jacobson. “He’s a big reason why we were able to win the league title.”
Eglseder, the Panthers’ second-leading scorer and leading rebounder entered the Panther history books as he became a member of UNI’s career 1,000-point club Saturday night. He also helped key an 18-4 run that put the Panthers ahead by 11 midway through the first half, a lead they would not relinquish. Eglseder found Kerwin Dunham for a three-pointer in the corner with a bullet pass from the top of the key. He then blocked Jackie Carmichael underneath to set up another Dunham three.
“Now we’re looking forward to taking momentum down to St. Louis,” said Dunham, in reference to next week’s conference tournament.
Juniors Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Dunham each added 10 points for the Panthers.
UNI has already repeated as regular season conference champions. Now they will try to repeat as conference tournament champions and clinch an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament starting Friday afternoon. UNI will be the top seed and will play the winner of the Drake University and Southern Illinois University game Friday at 12:05 p.m. at the Scottrade Center.
