Men's Basketball

Arch Madness Game 6: UNI 61, Southern Illinois 58

#6 UNI (61), #3 Southern Illinois (58)
 
RECORDS AND TOURNAMENT NOTES:  Tonight’s session attendance is 7,936. That sets up a UNI-Drake semifinal match for the first time in MVC tournament history
 
UNI WIN: UNI moves to 15-17 for the year. Coach Ben Jacobson is now 265-167. UNI Improves to 24-21 all-time in MVC tournament and is 31-36 all-time vs. SIU and 3-4 vs. SIU in MVC Tourney play. Panthers avoid a season sweep against SIU with their win.
 
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS LOSS:  After beating UNI twice in the regular season and having won their last four against the Panthers, the Salukis drop to 17-15 on the season and fail to make the quarterfinal round for the first time in three years. SIU’s MVC Tourney record falls to 36-35.
 
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NOTES:  Kavion Pippen had his third double-double of the season (sixth in career) with 22-11. The 11 rebounds are a season high for Pippen. Sean Lloyd Jr. has 5 points tonight and 1,001 for his career as he becomes the 47th Saluki to reach that plateau. His 20 points tonight mark his sixth 20-point game of the season.  The final SIU shooting percentage of .371 was the Salukis’ second lowest of the season.
 
UNI NOTES: UNI has made at least one 3-pointer in 625 straight games - the longest streak in the MVC. Wyatt Lohaus, playing in his ninth career MVC tourney game (most of any active player) had his third 20-point plus scoring game of the season with 21, including 11 in first half. Justin Dahl has a season high 8 points. AJ Green had a 19-point average in two previous games vs. SIU and has been held to 4 tonight. Lohaus has his fourth career 20-point game.
 
First Half:  The teams matched early ties at 2, 5 and 7 and UNI then forged slim leads which they pushed to 25-18 with five minutes left in the half. The teams stayed at their deliberate pace with the 34-26 UNI lead matching its biggest advantage of the contest. UNI shot .484 (13/28) from the floor to .345 (10/29) for SIU and the Panthers hit four treys to one for the Salukis. Wyatt Lohaus led UNI with 11 points while Kavion Pippen had 10 for SIU.
 
Second Half:  After trading baskets in the early going of the final period, UNI opened its biggest lead to that point at 47-36 with 12:22 to play. SIU fought back to within four at 55-51 with five minutes to play. The teams traded buckets to make it 57-53 with two minutes left. Pippen hit two free throws with 1:24 to play to make it 57-55. Aaron Cook then popped a long trey out front with clock running down to give SIU its first lead of the second half at 58-57 with 30.4 seconds left in the game. AJ Green hit a short jumper with 12 seconds left to push UNI back in front at 59-58 and then Spencer Haldeman went to the line for UNI with 4.8 seconds to play. He hit two free throws for a 61-58 UNI edge. Marcus Bartley then missed a long trey ahead of the final buzzer for SIU.