Nov. 18, 2007

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Jordan Eglseder scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Northern Iowa to a 73-66 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in men's basketball action Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

UNI (4-0) took the lead for good at 60-58 on a Travis Brown follow-up basket with 4:43 to play and then hung on by making seven free throws in the closing moments.

Torre Johnson scored 29 points to lead Milwaukee (2-1), which shot just 35.3 percent from the field.

Jared Josten added 16 points while Eric Coleman scored 12 points and had 11 rebounds for Northern Iowa, which shot 49 percent from the field.

Paige Paulsen was the only other Milwaukee player in double figures with 11.

UWM recovered from deficits in each half, cutting a seven-point hole in the first half down to two by halftime. Then, Milwaukee trailed by nine in the second half before fighting back to tie the game at 58.

Northern Iowa, though, made the key plays down the stretch. It scored three-straight baskets on the interior to go up 64-58 and then never let UWM closer than three in the closing moments.

"Down the stretch, Northern Iowa made plays. They got to every loose ball and got those second-chance opportunities," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "When you are playing a team that is as efficient as they are, you can't give them second chances."

Johnson's offensive outburst carried the Panthers for much of the game. He had 13 points at halftime and then scored 11 of Milwaukee's first 13 points of the second half. He added five more points in a row to bring UWM to within 56-54 with 8:00 left and then four-straight from Ricky Franklin carried UWM into a 58-all tie.

But, along with the Brown follow-up basket, Eglseder and Josten added layups to help give UNI a cushion.

Milwaukee did turn the ball over just six times but was only 7-of-23 from three-point range while seeing its young interior players limited by foul trouble and the more experienced interior players from Northern Iowa. Eglseder set the tone for UNI by scoring 14 points in the first half.

"It's one of those where we're young in that spot. You have to allow some guys to grow up and some guys to get knocked down and beat up a little bit so they can understand what it is going to take," Jeter said. "I can remember that young man last year and how he stumbled around the court a little bit and how he got beat up a little bit out there even though he was a seven-footer. That's essentially what happened to some of my younger players today."

UWM doesn't have to wait long to get back on the winning track. It continues a four-game homestand with a contest against South Dakota State Tuesday at 7 p.m.