TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA---"We want Wichita! We want Wichita!"

Making the two biggest splashes of the non-conference season in regard to mid-majors, the Northern Iowa Panthers entered Missouri Valley Conference play with an opportunity to receive an at-large bid on Selection Sunday. 

Now they don't.

Combining past losses to Southern Illinois and Missouri State, the Panthers had no room for error when entering the Hulman Center Wednesday night. And error is just what transpired as 12 three-pointers, 9 of which came in the second half, and a career-high 30 points from "stud sophomore" Brenton Scott put Northern Iowa away in a 74-60 comeback victory for the Indiana State Sycamores.

Both teams blasting off like a rocket ship, Northern Iowa and Indiana State traded haymakers and big baskets for the first eleven plus minutes, ultimately making the score read 20-17 UNI (8:57 left in the first half).

In fact, it was somewhat of a two-on-two battle to begin this showdown considering the Panthers' Wes Washpun and Bennett Koch and the Sycamores' Brenton Scott and Devonte Brown netted the first 18 points and 30 of the first 37.

However, following the back-and-forth action, Koch continued scoring, in a night he would tie his career-high in points (18), with a jumper that spurred a 9-0 spurt which ran UNI out a game-high 12-point lead (29-17). Yet, it would grow no further.

Thankfully for Indiana State, they were finally able to shut the door on the defensive end before Devonte Brown and Everett Clemons broke free for lay-ups. 

Additionally, Matt Van Scyoc arguably made the most impactful basket of the game to finish the first half, for he knocked down a trey to dwindle the lead to single-digits and steal momentum walking into the halftime locker room (37-30 UNI). While neither team knew it, the success of both was about to flip-flop.

The second twenty minutes began with a thunderous dunk by Northern Iowa's Bennett Koch. 39-30 Panthers! Here we go again thought the home faithful. Northern Iowa was going to jump ahead and make the Sycamores fight from behind.

Not. This. Time.

Answering immediately with a Brown jumper, Indiana State scored on their next three of four possessions to pull within one of the mid-major power. But, they didn't stop there! 

Exiting the first media timeout of the second half, Brown tickled the twine again, this time from beyond the arc, for the Trees first lead since the 15:50 mark in the first half. 

While the Panthers school leader for three pointers made Matt Bohannon countered with one of his three treys to retake the edge, Scott drilled a triple, was fouled, and made the free throw. 45-42 Sycamores!

Despite "Bo" answering once again for UNI, Indiana State caged their opponent, yes caged, with a 23-5 team run that truly put the victory in the bag. How? Greg Lansing's group was up 18 with just 6:28 remaining. 18! It was a wrap!

Finding the Bottom of the Net with Ease

Indiana State's "stud sophomore" Brenton Scott never lacks confident, even if he is having an off night. Tonight was by no means an 'off night.' Taking the game over and carrying the Sycamores in crucial stretches, the 2014-2015 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year produced a career-high 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting. But, before you think Scott was just hot, which he was, he has also been playing great since the start of conference play. One must remember, the 6'1" guard was only averaging a hair under 11 points per game in non-conference play. Therefore, the fact he is posting point averages of 18.6 per game in MVC play and 27.5 in his last two is astonishing! After the game Scott said, "I was in the zone tonight. I just wanted to keep attacking and being aggressive for my teammates. My teammates were looking for me. They are the ones that were being aggressive. I just took advantage of it." But as humble and valuable as Scott's words are, the best term to describe his game was said by Back to the Future's Doc Brown: "Great Scott!"

Guards Doing More Than Scoring

On Saturday against Illinois State, Sycamores' guards Everett Clemons and Brenton Scott pulled down 13 and 9 rebounds respectively. But do you want to know the most impressive part? They are both only 6'1"! With forwards Matt Van Scyoc and Brandon Murphy combining for a measly four, the aforementioned two and Devonte Brown grabbed a total of 24 rebounds (9 from Brown, 8 by Scott, and 7 from Clemons). To put this number in perspective, Northern Iowa had 29 as a team! Such a defensive performance will be a must when 10-7 (4-1) Indiana State makes the long trek to Wichita State for a showdown with the Shockers Sunday afternoon.

A Career Night

When UNI legend and 2014-2015 second-team Division I All-American Seth Tuttle graduated, a gaping hole was left in Ben Jacobson's program. Who could replace a player who not only, scored the basketball, but had the offense ran through him. How about Bennett Koch! By no means is this journalist saying Koch is at the same level as Tuttle right now--or ever will be for that matter, but he is showing potential and improvement as a player. While Indiana State does not have the best frontcourt in the MVC, no glory should be taken away from the sophomore's performance this evening as Koch swished seven-of-ten attempts for 18 points (tied career high) while adding 7 rebounds (one away from career-high). Talk about Tuttle like numbers! 10-8 (2-3) Northern Iowa will look to continue their home dominance, where they have won both conference games, this Saturday as they host a limping Loyola squad.

He Said It (Part I)

"Any time you play on the road, it doesn't matter who you are playing. It is going to be a dog fight."
---Northern Iowa sharpshooter Matt Bohannon (11 points and 6 rebounds).

He Said It (Part II)

"Yeah, Bennett is coming along definitely. He is young of course and this is his first go around in "The Valley," but he is starting to figure it out and it is starting to show. He is really talented."
---Northern Iowa slasher Wes Washpun  (16 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists) on the improvement of teammate Bennett Koch.

He Said It (Part III)

"There will be a couple of little things right now. When we played on Saturday against Drake, we played great at home. At home against Bradley in our opener we played great. We have played better at home, than we had on the road here of late. So we need to use that motive to help us play better." said Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson. "We've got to use momentum and our crowd to help us play great at home."

He Said It (Part IV)

"I don't really pay attention to them (Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet, and Conner Frankamp) because leading up to this game everyone was trying to make it between me and Wes Washpun and really B-Scott took the show. It's not about their backcourt against our backcourt, it is really our team against their team. The tougher team is going to win on that day."
---Indiana State's Devonte Brown on the impending "Battle of the Backcourts" versus Wichita State this weekend.

He Said It (Part V)

"I just know that the fans want their free chicken and we didn't provide it tonight."
---Indiana State's Brenton Scott on the Hulman Center booing the Sycamores off the floor because of their failure to score 75 points, equaling a free Chick-fil-A sandwich for everyone in attendance.