Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Indiana State became the first visiting team to win four times in the eight-year history of the McLeod Center with its thrilling 87-81 come-from-behind victory over Northern Iowa in front of 5,127 fans.
The Sycamores continued their trend of bouncing back from a loss with a victory in the following contest and improved to 17-5, 8-2 MVC. Indiana State has now won at least 17 regular season games for the fifth consecutive season -- breaking a previous record of four set in the early 1960's.
Dawon Cummings paced the Sycamores with 18 points as he was one of all five Sycamore starters to reach double figures scoring. Khristian Smith posted his first career double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Justin Gant added 14 and Odum poured in 17. Arop scored 11 with his game-clinching free throws in the final seconds.
Indiana State torched the nets in the second half, hitting 12-of-22 shots from the field (54.5 percent). The Sycamores held a 36-32 edge in rebounding.
Odum tallied five assists in the game to move up to second all-time in career assists with 554. He only trails Steve Reed (616) in the Sycamore record books. Additionally, he hit 11 free throws and is second all-time to Larry Bird with 523. He needs just 19 more to tie Bird's school record.
Northern Iowa added one point to their halftime lead for a 46-34 advantage just 21 seconds after the break. Odum started a 12-0 run with a free throw, which was followed by consecutive 3-pointers from Dawon Cummings and then a driving lay-up by Justin Gant. Khristian Smith buried an open trifecta at the 16:14 mark and the Sycamores completely erased the Panther advantage and knotted the score at 46.
A pair of Smith free throws stretched the run out to 14-0 and gave the Sycamores their first lead of the contest at 48-46 at the 15:44 mark. An Odum lay-up answered a UNI field goal for a 50-48 Sycamore lead. The Panthers tied the contest once again before Arop hit a 3-pointer and Smith tallied a driving lay-up and Indiana State led 55-50 with just over 14 minutes remaining.
Northern Iowa scored three in a row before Cummings was fouled on a drive and hit a pair of free throws at the 11:12 mark to stretch the Sycamore lead out to 57-53. After Manny Arop's steal, Brandon Burnett grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a pair of charity tosses for a 59-53 cushion with 10:39 remaining.
Cummings got a stop with the defensive rebound as the clock went under eight minutes remaining and he found a streaking Smith for the lay-up in transition and the Sycamores surged ahead 62-55. Arop then hit a 3-pointer with 7:06 remaining to give Indiana State its first double-digit lead of the contest at 65-55.
The Sycamores continued their hot second half with a Gant blocked shot and then Cummings buried his fourth triple of the game for a 68-57 advantage with 5:50 on the clock. UNI answered with trips on consecutive trips to cut the lead down to 68-62 before Odum found Gant for a lay-up as the clock ticked towards four minutes remaining and reestablished the 70-62 cushion.
After Smith recorded a steal, he came up with a huge offensive rebound off a 3-point miss which eventually led to a easy Odum lay-up with 2:48 to go for a 72-62 lead. Odum then followed up another steal with a pair of charity tosses for a 12-point cushion.
Northern Iowa battled all the way back to 81-79 with 32 seconds remaining. Odum was fouled with 23.5 seconds on the clock. He hit them both to stretch the lead back out to 83-79. The Panthers continued the wild final minute of the contest by hitting a pair of free throws and a foul sent Arop to the charity stripe. He hit both free throws for a 85-81 lead.
The Sycamore defense got a stop and Smith converted at the charity stripe for a 87-81 advantage.
Deon Mitchell of Northern Iowa and Manny Arop traded 3-pointers to open the contest as it was tied 3-3 after the first minute of play. Over the next minute, Seth Tuttle and Khristian Smith traded field goals to once again knot the contest at 5. The Panthers scored the next four before Jake Odum recorded a lay-up with 16:57 on the clock to cut the UNI advantage down to 9-7.
Dawon Cummings would post a lay-up at the 15:25 mark before Northern Iowa scored six in a row until Brandon Burnett stroked a pair of free throws three minutes later to cut the Panther cushion down to 19-13. A free throw from Gant made it 21-18 as the clock ticked towards 10 minutes left in the first half before UNI's Matt Bohanon and Cummings traded triples to make it 24-21 with eight and half minutes left before the break.
Khristian Smith tallied a lay-up to cut the Panther lead down to 26-23 one minute later but the Panthers countered with five in a row before a Kitchell lay-up got the Sycamores within 31-27 with 4:53 remaining.
Northern Iowa would lead by as many as 13 points late in the first half but Gant hit a 3-pointer and then Smith added a free throw to cut the lead down to 43-34 with just over a minute before halftime. Mitchell answered with a lay-up with 51 seconds on the clock for a 45-34 advantage at the break. Gant led the Sycamores with 10 points in the first half.
Indiana State returns to action on Wednesday, February 5 when they host nationally-ranked Wichita State. Tip-off for the nationally televised contest is set for 8:05 p.m. (ET). All fans are encouraged to wear Blue and there will be a $10,000 halfcourt shot promotion sponsored by the Sycamore Athletic Foundation.
