Senior guard Ali Farokhmanesh drained a three pointer with 36 seconds remaining to give UNI a 61-59 lead as the Panthers rallied past Iowa State 63-60 in Hilton Coliseum. Farokhmanesh says they look for the shot in transition and he got a good look at it.
Iowa State built a five point halftime advantage and led by as much as seven points in the second half before the Panthers rallied for their second straight win in Hilton Coliseum. Farokhmanesh says they always feel if they hang around long enough they will be in it in the end and he says they kept it close and realized someone was going to make a play.
Center Jordan Egelseder finished with 20 points and hauled down 14 rebounds while forward Adam Koch also finished with 20 points. Egelseder says it’s a big game with an in-state rival and a big win for the program. The Panthers improve to 5-1 and coach Ben Jacobsen says the win should help boost their confidence. Jacobsen says it never hurts to get a shot of confidence, even though they won a lot of games last year.
The Cyclones led for much of the game but could never take control. I.S.U. coach Greg McDermott says U.N.I. kept making hustle play after hustle play and his team is still learning how to win and the Panthers are a team that knows how to win. McDermott says the Cyclones are not very sharp on offense right now.
He says when you are not flying around and “making your own mo-jo” those things happen. McDermott says they don’t have much time to fix it before their next game. The Cyclones fall to 6-2 and visit California on Saturday.