National Basketball Association
Northern Iowa 81, Iowa St. 79
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 19, 2015
Where: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa
Officials:
# Terry Davis, # Paul Janssen, # Hal Lusk
Attendance:
15424
By The Sports Xchange
Northern Iowa picked up its second win against a Top 5 team by shooting its way past No. 5 Iowa State 81-79 on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
Northern Iowa (7-3) upset No. 1 North Carolina in November and knocked off the Cyclones (9-1) by shooting 58 percent, including 59.1 percent on 3-pointers.
The Panthers were led by guards Wes Washpun and Paul Jesperson. Washpun scored 28 points and was a threat from deep and with dribble penetration. He added 11 assists and seven rebounds. Jesperson scored 21 points and connected on seven of Northern Iowa's 13 3-pointers.
Northern Iowa led nearly the entire game, but Iowa State kept coming back behind 30 points from forward Georges Niang, 18 points from forward Jameel McKay and 14 from forward Abdel Nader.
The Cyclones had a shot at a potential winning basket, trailing by one with 15.3 seconds left, but Niang fell driving to the basket and turned the ball over. Also, guard Monte Morris' floater from five feet in the final second didn't go in.
This was Iowa State's second straight game without guard Naz Mitrou-Long, who recently announced he will miss the rest of the season because of lingering pain in his hips following offseason surgery.
Top Game Performances
| Northern Iowa |
|
Iowa St. |
|
Wes Washpun 28 |
Scoring |
Georges Niang 30 |
|
Wes Washpun 11 |
Assists |
Monte Morris 6 |
|
Wes Washpun 7 |
Rebounds |
Abdel Nader 7 |
|
Wes Washpun 8 |
Free Throws Made |
Georges Niang 9 |
|
Bennett Koch 2 |
Steals |
Monte Morris 3 |
|
Paul Jesperson 1 |
Blocks |
Jameel McKay 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Northern Iowa
|
81 |
58.0 |
13-22 |
10-17 |
16 |
18 |
2 |
6 |
15 |
| Iowa St.
|
79 |
52.5 |
3-17 |
12-17 |
13 |
28 |
4 |
9 |
10 |
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