Creighton University
Northern Iowa
Buzzer-Beater Beats Men's Basketball at UNI
2/4/2012 6:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Antoine Young had a season-high 23 points and hit a game-tying three-pointer with 4.6 seconds left, but Northern Iowa's Anthony James answered with a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the host Panthers to a 65-62 win over No. 13 Creighton on Saturday afternoon at McLeod Center.
Creighton (21-3, 11-2 MVC) had its 11-game win streak snapped in heartbreaking fashion while also snapping a six-game road winning spell. UNI improved to 16-9 on the year and is 6-7 in MVC play.
The heroics by Young and James were part of a frantic final 71 seconds that featured a combined five three-pointers from both squads. Creighton was down five points (61-56) after a James trifecta with 23.4 left. Creighton answered with a three-pointer by Jahenns Manigat with 15.7 left, only to have James split two free throws to put UNI up three and 12.4 left.
After CU used its last two timeouts to set up a play, Young would hit his three-pointer to tie it before James' game-winner. James took an inbounds pass from Jake Koch along the right sideline, and used five dribbles to weave through the Bluejay defense and put up his buzzer-beater over the hand of an outstretched defender. UNI fans immediately stormed the court, and an officials review confirmed the shot was released before the final horn.
UNI led most of the first half, going up by as much as five before settling for a 31-30 halftime lead. Young led CU with 12 points at the break while Doug McDermott had nine points and six rebounds. The Panthers were paced by 11 points from freshman Seth Tuttle at the break.
The teams remained in close contention down the stretch before a 6-0 run moved the Panthers ahead 51-45 with 5:12 left. The Jays cut the deficit to one before James' floater with 2:06 left put the Panthers up by three. Young then answered with a spinning lay-up at the 1:29 mark.
UNI's Koch buried a corner three-pointer to put UNI up 58-54 with 1:08 remaining. CU's Young was fouled with 54.1 ticks left. He sank both to trim the deficit to 58-56 before the hectic final minute.
Young led Creighton with 23 points, one off his career high, while McDermott had 18 points and 12 rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting. Gregory Echenique had eight points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. CU shot 42.1 percent for the game and outrebounded UNI 44-30 on the day.
UNI was keyed by 16 points from James, who had missed Tuesday's win over Southern Illinois with an assortment of injuries. Tuttle finished with 13 points and nine rebounds while Deon Mitchell tallied 12 points. UNI shot 40.4 percent for the game, including 11-of-21 from downtown, and had just two turnovers.
Creighton will play on the road on Tuesday at Evansville in a 7 pm game that can be heard on KXSP (590 AM). The Purple Aces lost a heartbreaker of their own on Saturday, falling 53-52 at Southern Illinois.
NOTES: Creighton's No. 13 national ranking was the highest ever for a McLeod Center opponent ...Doug McDermott has scored in double-figures in 25 straight games, CU's longest streak since Bob Harstad's stretch of 32 straight in 1990-91 ...Antoine Young recorded his first blocked shot of the season ...Doug McDermott's double-double was his MVC-leading eighth of the season ...The team with the better field goal percentage had won each of Creighton's last 29 games until that streak was snapped today ...Northern Iowa's crowd of 6,910 was a season-high at home for the Panthers, the ninth time in 10 Creighton road games that its opponent has set a season-high home crowd ...Gregory Echenique had three blocks and two steals in the first half. CU is now 12-1 this year when he has two or more blocks. His two steals were a season high ...Creighton fell to 10-1 all-time when Gregory Echenique has 10 or more rebounds ...Northern Iowa has gone 7-2 in its last nine home games vs. ranked teams ...UNI snapped a three-game losing streak to Creighton and now trails the series with the Jays by a 29-16 count ...Creighton had its 11-game win streak snapped ...Creighton's six-game road win streak, its longest since 1975, was snapped.
