Jan. 24, 2005

Box Score

Cedar Falls, Iowa - Paul Miller scored a season-high 17 points to lead Wichita State to a 65-57 win over the University of Northern Iowa Monday night at the UNI-Dome. UNI junior Erik Crawford (Oakdale, Minn.) had a game-high 20 points for the Panthers.

Wichita State shot 50 percent from the field for the night (24-for-48), while UNI managed just 32.8 percent shooting (21-for-64), including just 23.1 percent of its three-pointers (6-for-26). The Panthers, who entered the night shooting better than 50 percent from the field for the season, shot below 33 percent for the second straight game after not shooting below 42 percent the entire season prior to that.

WSU held a 29-24 lead at halftime, as Miller scored 11 of his 17 points in the opening half. The Panthers were 0-for-10 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.

The Panthers took their first lead of the game, 30-29, as they opened the second half with back-to-back threes by Crawford and Ben Jacobson (Sioux City, Iowa). But WSU answered with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to open a 40-30 advantage, and UNI was forced to play catch-up the rest of the way.

UNI made a late run at the Shockers. Trailing by 10 (61-51) with 1:38 left, Crawford and Grant Stout (New Sharon, Iowa) hit consecutive threes to pull the Panthers to within 61-57. After a Shocker turnover, UNI had two three-point attempts miss on its next possession that would have cut the lead to one. WSU hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds for the final margin.

The Panthers turned the ball over a season-low five times on the night and forced 15 Shocker miscues. WSU won the rebounding battle, 42-31.

With the loss, UNI falls to 13-6 overall, 4-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Wichita State improves to 14-2, 7-1 in MVC play. The Panthers host Indiana State on Wednesday night at the UNI-Dome, with tipoff set for 7:05 p.m.