National Basketball Association
Northern Iowa 73, Virginia Tech 54
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Where: Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, Riviera Maya
Officials:
# Peter Juzenas, # James Schipper, # Geoff Vejsicky
Attendance:
650
By SportsDirect Inc.
Northern Iowa 73, Virginia Tech 54: Matt Bohannon
scored 13 points to lead four players in double figures as the Panthers overwhelmed
the Hokies in the Cancun Challenge Riviera Division semifinals in Mexico.
Seth Tuttle added 11 points and Marvin Singleton
and Nate Buss added 10 apiece for Northern Iowa (5-0), which will play Northwestern in Wednesday’s
championship game. The experienced Panthers, who brought back all five of their
starters from last season, hit six of their first seven 3-pointers in the first half
and finished the game with an 18-3 advantage at the free-throw line.
Joey van Zegeren scored a game-high 15 but was
the only player to reach double digits for Virginia Tech (2-2). The Hokies, who
will face the Miami (Ohio) in Wednesday’s consolation
contest, also received nine points from Ahmed Hill and eight from leading
scorer Justin Bibbs.
Bibbs' layup gave Virginia Tech the first bucket
of the second half, but Northern Iowa responded by scoring 17 of the next 19
points to stretch its lead to 57-35 with just over 13 minutes remaining. The
Hokies would get no closer than 17 the rest of the way.
The Hokies started slow, but were still able to pull within 22-17 on Jalen Hudson’s
three-point play with a little more than 11 minutes to play in the half. Northern
Iowa, however, turned up the heat from long range to ignite a 12-2 run over the
ensuing seven minutes and wound up taking a 40-31 lead into the break.
GAME NOTEBOOK: This was the first meeting between
the teams. … Virginia Tech is 3-5 all-time against Missouri
Valley Conference opponents. … The Hokies were outrebounded for the fourth time
in four games as the Panthers had a 27-24 advantage on the glass.
Top Game Performances
Northern Iowa |
|
Virginia Tech |
Matt Bohannon 13 |
Scoring |
Joey Van Zegeren 15 |
Wes Washpun 5 |
Assists |
Devin Wilson 4 |
Marvin Singleton 9 |
Rebounds |
Joey Van Zegeren 6 |
Seth Tuttle 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Ahmed Hill 1 |
Deon Mitchell 2 |
Steals |
Jalen Hudson 1 |
Seth Tuttle 1 |
Blocks |
Satchel Pierce 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Northern Iowa
|
73 |
50.0 |
7-18 |
18-20 |
14 |
25 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
Virginia Tech
|
54 |
47.8 |
7-18 |
3-8 |
13 |
20 |
2 |
2 |
14 |