WICHITA, Kan.- Wichita State's men's basketball team (15-8, 6-6) defeated Northern Iowa (15-7, 6-5), 67-61, Tuesday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Senior Kyle Wilson led the Shockers with 24 points going 3-of-5 from behind the arc and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Matt Braeuer also ended in double figure with 10 points and had five assists. Wilson and Ryan Martin each brought down eight rebounds.

Grant Stout, Eric Coleman and Jared Josten combined for 54 of Northern Iowa's 61 points. Stout had 22, Coleman added 19, and Josten chipped in 13. Only two other Panthers scored. Stout led defensively with 13 rebounds and five blocks. Coleman brought down 10 boards.

Fueled by two three-pointers from Braeuer, Wichita State jumped out to a 12-2 lead to start the game, as UNI missed eight of its first nine shots from the floor. UNI point guard Brooks McKowen scored five points during a 9-2 run that pulled the Panthers within 14-11, but WSU quickly extended its advantage back to 22-13, with shots from behind the arc by Wilson and Karon Bradley.

A Jared Josten three-pointer pulled the Panthers back within 22-18 with 7:32 left, but WSU pounded it inside and went on a 13-1 run to open it largest lead of the game, 35-19, with just under three minutes left. The Shockers held a 41-26 lead at halftime, after hitting 52 percent of their field goals in the first 20 minutes, including 7-for-11 from three-point range. Conversely, UNI managed just 29 percent shooting in the first half, 2-for-13 on treys.

"I thought we were really good in the first half,” said Wichita State Head Coach Mark Turgeon. “We were unselfish and dictated tempo."

"Wichita State was 7-of-11 from three in the first half and we were 2-of-15 - that was part of the reason we fell behind,” UNI Head Coach Ben Jacobson said. “You could tell that Wichita was going to play well tonight by the way they started. We had to keep it close so our crowd could get behind us."

The Shockers maintained a double-digit lead for the first 10 minutes of the second half, before the Panthers came roaring back. Trailing 55-42 with 9:38 left in the game, Stout and Coleman combined for eight of the team's next 10 points, and the Panthers pulled as close as three, 57-54, with 3:51 remaining, after a pair of Josten free throws.

On the next possession, UNI forced a WSU miss and Stout was fouled, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. WSU's Wilson then hit one of two free throws, and after UNI missed two threes that would have pulled it within one, Wilson nailed a trey from the right wing that put the Shockers up 61-54 with just over a minute to play. Wichita State hit all six of its free throws in the final minute to seal the 67-61 win.

"We didn't run sets until the last eight minutes, but I never felt like we'd lose the game. I felt it would come down to the end but I was happy with the way we were guarding."

Wichita State shot 47 percent on the night and held UNI to 36 percent. The Shockers went 9-of-15 from three-point range compared to the Panthers 6-of-26.

"We are playing together and our confidence is back,” said Wichita State's P.J. Couisnard.