Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa--Senior guard Kurt Alexander's career night was not enough to overcome the play of host Northern Iowa Sunday night in a 66-52 loss to the Panthers in Cedar Falls. Alexander (Toronto, Ontario) scored a career-high 21 points on the night, hitting eight of the 10 shots he took.
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The loss snapped Drake's four-game winning streak and dropped the Bulldogs to 12-8 overall, 5-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play exactly half way through league play. They are tied for third place and prepare to host conference leader and nationally-ranked Creighton (18-2, 8-1) at the Knapp Center on Wednesday, followed by second-place Wichita State (17-3, 8-1) on Saturday.
Alexander's total included a career-high three three-pointers, as well as two rebounds and a steal.
"Kurt's playing well," said Drake Head Coach Mark Phelps. "We need him to play well. It's a good sign out of Kurt and hopefully we can build on that, get back home and get back to playing better basketball than we did tonight. There's a formula to win on the road and we didn't do it tonight. Give UNI credit."
Drake's top scorers were held in check throughout the evening by the stingy Panthers defense. Sophomore Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill.) and junior Ben Simons, (Cadillac, Mich.), who entered the game averaging 17.3 and 15.7 points per game, respectively, managed roughly half that output, contributing 9 and 7 points.
The in-state rivalry game was a battle for the opening 10 minutes until Northern Iowa embarked on a 17-4 run to close the first half, and led 34-23 at the break. Alexander scored nine of Drake's first 19 points to help the Bulldogs build a 19-17 lead at the 9:49 mark of the first half before Northern Iowa caught fire.
The Panther's didn't let up after the intermission. Forwards Seth Tuttle and Jake Koch hit consecutive three-pointers to open the half on an 11-1 run.
"They started off with two threes which stretched into a 17-point lead in what seemed like 90 seconds," Phelps said. "Once we got down 17 it obviously became even tougher but those guys can do that to you. Not a good way to start the second half."
Drake failed to make a field goal for seven minutes, stretching from the three-minute mark of the first half into the second half. Alexander ended the drought when he hit a floater four minutes into the second half.
The Bulldogs struggled from the field for much of the game before beginning to consistently make shots midway through the second half. Junior Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark.) hit a three-pointer to spur his team to a 14-4 run and bring the lead to 12, at 61-49, after an Alexander three with 5:09 to play.
Drake, however, could draw no closer, as Northern Iowa used its wide disparity in free-throw shooting to close out the game. The Panthers shot only slightly better than the Bulldogs from the field, (43.1 percent to 38.2 percent), but converted 16-of-24 from the line. Drake made four free throws in just seven trips to the charity stripe.
Northern Iowa outrebounded Drake 37-32 and turned the ball over just six times to Drake's 10.
"The fact that we lost this game I don't think will have any bearing on Creighton and Wichita State," Phelps added. "Those teams are really good, they stand on their own merit and we're going to have to be at our best."
