Uncharacteristic Miscues Lead to Loss at Northern Iowa

Wednesday, December 6

Cedar Falls, IA

8:00 PM

University of Richmond

5-4,0-0Atlantic 10

Northern Iowa

3-6,0-2MVC

Richmond

UNI

Dji Bailey runs into his defender in the middle of the lane

Uncharacteristic Miscues Lead to Loss at Northern Iowa

12/06/2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Ia. — A rash of turnovers early and a run of missed shots late led to a 78-73 loss at Northern Iowa for the Richmond Spiders Wednesday night.

Richmond, which led the country in fewest turnovers per game at 7.4 entering the day, turned the ball over on three of its first four possessions and five times in the first six minutes, allowing Northern Iowa to seize control of the game early.

Late in the second half, when the Spiders were nipping at the Panthers heels, UR missed seven straight field goal attempts and went nearly five minutes without scoring. The Spiders entered the game shooting 50.2 percent from the field, best in the Atlantic 10 and 22^nd in the nation.

With the loss, UR dropped to 5-4 on the season, while UNI improved to 3-6.

"They were in desperation mode, it felt like," said Spiders coach Chris Mooney after the game. "We played hard and well at times, but I thought they made some desperation-type plays."

UR's eighth turnover of the game, exceeding its season average, came with 8:29 to play in the first half, keeping the Panthers in the game despite 17 first-half points from Spiders forward Isaiah Bigelow.

"That's unacceptable," said Mooney of UR's early turnovers. "We had far too many and we had far too many that led to points for them. On the road that's really going to be hard when you give up possessions like that."

Bigelow scored 10 straight points midway through the opening half to turn a six-point UR deficit into a four-point lead. Richmond built its lead to double digits at 34-24 with 5:38 remaining in the half, but the Panthers responded with back-to-back three pointers and trimmed Richmond's lead to just two, 41-39, at the break.

Jordan King, who entered the night averaging a team-high 21 points per game, was scoreless in the first half. In the second, he scored 20 points, allowing UR to stay with the Panthers, who found gaps in the Spiders defense, particularly late in possessions.

"One of strengths of their offense is they can stick with it for the full shot clock," said Mooney. "While we were disruptive and made it difficult for them, it gets harder and harder to do as the shot clock goes down. It's hard to stay alert with switching and making your decisions, your positioning."

UR was held without a point from 8:24 to 3:37 of the second half, a span of nearly five minutes. Still, the Spiders stayed in the game, pulling within four at 71-67 when Mikkel Tyne hit a three-pointer with 2:40 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, UNI missed the front end of a one-and-one, but grabbed the offensive rebound. After a short miss, the Panthers grabbed another offensive board, finally scoring to take a 73-67 lead with 2:07 to play. The Spiders wouldn't any closer than four points down the stretch.

"In a four-point game we gave up two offensive rebounds on the same possession. That's unacceptable," said Mooney. "You have to do so many things well on road. You really have to take care of your stuff."

"We have to get more stops. It all comes down to that," said King, who registered his sixth 20-point game of the season. "We have to have good possessions at the end of the game."

Up next for the Spiders is a neutral-site matchup with Florida at the Orange Bowl Classic Saturday at 4 PM in Sunrise, Fla. The game will be nationally broadcast on the SEC Network.

"If we're going to win on the road, we have to play with heart," said King. "We've got to understand we're not the favorites right now. We've got to come in and throw the first punch."