UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA TO TAKE ON SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

The University of Northern Iowa men’s basketball team (6-6, 0-1 Missouri Valley Conference) heads to Carbondale, Ill., for its first conference road game of the season, facing Southern Illinois (5-7, 0-1) on New Year's Eve. The Panthers have dropped 11 straight decisions at SIU, with their last win being in the 1996-97 campaign.

JUMP BALLS

Sophomore point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored a career-high 28 points, nearly leading UNI from a 21-point first half deficit to the win, in the team’s 85-84 double-overtime loss to Indiana State on Sunday. Ahelegbe connected on 11-of-19 shots from the floor, and was 2-of-3 from three-point range, while also grabbing three rebounds and dishing out three assists. The 28 points was the most ever scored by a UNI player in the three-year history of the McLeod Center, Ahelegbe’s previous career-high was 18 points against Iowa State in an overtime loss Dec. 3.

The 85-84 double-overtime loss to Indiana State Dec. 28 was the first double-overtime game in the three-year history of the McLeod Center. The last time UNI played in a double-overtime game was on Jan. 16, 2006, in a 71-65 win over Southern Illinois in the UNI-Dome.

UNI made a season-high 10 three-pointers against Indiana State Dec. 28. Ali Farokhmanesh led the way with four treys – all after halftime while Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Johnny Moran each connected on two. After falling behind by as many as 21 points in the first half (39-18), and trailing by 17 points at halftime (41-24), UNI fought back to force overtime against Indiana State Dec. 28. Travis Brown hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with one second left to force the extra session.

Two players saw career-high minute totals in UNI’s double-overtime game with Indiana State Dec. 28. Sophomore guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe played 46 of 50 possible minutes against the Sycamores, while freshman guard Johnny Moran played 41 minutes.