UNI RALLY FALLS SHORT IN 61-56 LOSS TO PURDUE

The University of Northern Iowa men’s basketball team was able to cut a 14-point second-half deficit to two, but it was unable to completely close the gap in a 61-56 loss to Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday afternoon.

Jordan Eglseder led the Panthers (23-11) with 13 points, and Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored 11. Ali Farokhmanesh added 10 points, all in the second half. Lucas O’Rear came off the bench to grab seven rebounds.

E’Twaun Moore led Purdue (26-9) with 17 points, and JaJuan Johnson scored 14 for the Boilermakers. Robbie Hummel scored nine points and collected 12 rebounds for Purdue.

A three-point play from Eglseder and a three from Johnny Moran gave the Panthers a quick 6-4 lead. UNI was held scoreless for more than seven minutes, however, allowing Purdue to go on a 14-0 run and build an 18-6 advantage.

A three from Moran and a layup from Eglseder cut the Panther deficit to seven, 20-13 with 8:24 left in the half.

The Boilermakers stretched their lead back to a dozen, however, and they took a 32-20 lead into the break.

Hummel scored at 19:30 to give Purdue its largest lead of the game, 34-20. Adam Koch responded with a three-point shot to pull the Panthers within 11.

Johnson and Eglseder traded baskets, and a pair of free throws from Moore gave put Purdue in front by 13, 38-25 with 16:59 to play. Farokhmanesh hit his first three of the game to make it a 10-point game, 38-28. He connected on a three off an assist from Travis Brown to cut UNI’s deficit to seven, 38-31 with 14:18 to play.

Hummel scored on a pull-up jumper to extend the Purdue lead back to nine, but Ahelegbe knocked down a mid-range jump shot as he was fouled. The free-throw made it a two-possession game, 40-34 with 12:10 left.

Johnson and Eglseder traded baskets twice, keeping the Panther deficit at a half-dozen, 44-38 with 10:02 remaining.

The Panthers came up empty-handed on their next three possessions, and Purdue took advantage to build its lead to 48-38 with 9:13 to play.

Eglseder knocked down a pair of free throws at the eight-minute mark, and Moran grabbed a defensive rebound and found Koch ahead of the pack. Koch drove in for a one-handed dunk that cut the Purdue lead to six, 48-42 with 7:39 left.

The teams traded baskets over the next four minutes, and at 3:00 Farokhmanesh grabbed a steal that gave UNI the ball down six. The Panthers turned the ball over, however, and Moore scored to give Purdue a 54-46 lead with 2:22 on the clock.

UNI elected to send Moore to the free-throw line, and he missed the front end of a one-and-one. Moran tracked down the rebound, and Kerwin Dunham knocked down a three at 1:30 that pulled the Panthers within five, 54-49.

Hummel made one of two free throws to make it a six-point game, and Ahelegbe was fouled as she attempted a layup. The sophomore made both tries, pulling UNI within four, 55-51 with 1:07 on the clock.

Keaton Grant made one of two free throws, and Farokhmanesh collected the rebound for the Panthers. Dunham hit a three from the right baseline to cut the UNI deficit to a pair, 56-54 with 17.9 seconds remaining.

That was as close as the Panthers could get, however, as the Boilermakers finished 5-of-6 from the stripe in the closing seconds to hold off UNI.

Purdue shot 41 percent from the floor, while UNI connected on 37 percent of its shots. The Panthers made 7-of-22 (32 percent) from three-point range, with two each from Farokhmanesh, Moran and Dunham. UNI held Purdue to just 3-for-15 from behind the arc. The teams were even in rebounding, 33 each, with UNI collecting 11 offensive boards to 10 for Purdue.