Box Score

WICHITA - A team leading 19 points from JT Durley, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe late in the game, helped propel the Wichita State University men's basketball team to a 60-51 upset of #20 Northern Iowa Tuesday night in a sold-out Charles Koch Arena.

The win pushes the Shockers record to 17-3 overall and 6-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. UNI suffers its first Valley loss of the season and now stands at 16-2 on the year, 7-1 in conference play.

Graham Hatch scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Gabe Blair had nine points in a reserve role.

Jordan Eglseder was one of four Panther players to reach double figures as Eglseder notched a team best 14 counters and seven boards. Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Adam Koch each had 11 points while Ali Farokhmanesh recorded 10 points.

Clevin Hannah had six points, four rebounds and eight assists in the win.

WSU scored first in the game on Durley basket from Toure' Murry. UNI responded on a Moran layup only to have Graham Hatch, who had been out before the game practicing his long range shot, drop in a three-pointer to keep the Shockers ahead.

The see-saw battle continued as a Panther basket was matched by a Durley jumper in the paint. Another visiting team bucket from Ahelegbe was matched by an Aaron Ellis jumper as the Shockers took a 9-6 advantage into the first media timeout.

The WSU lead ballooned up to seven points by the second media timeout as Hannah led the Shocker attack with three points. Through the first 10 minutes of the contest the Shockers had shot 53 percent from the floor (8-for-15) and 2-for-4 from behind the arc.

Over the next three minutes Wichita State scored six unanswered points until a layup by Ahelegbe (22-11) put the visiting Panthers back on the board. A bucket from Murry put the home team back up by 13 with a follow-up long ball from Durley after an O'Rear basket gave WSU its biggest lead of the game at 14 (27-13).

The two teams exchanged baskets through the final four minutes of the half with the Shockers heading into the break up 29-17.

Hatch led the Shockers with 10 points in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the arc. Durley had seven points and two blocks while Blair came off the bench to score six points.

Ahelegbe notched five counters for UNI.

WSU shot 52 percent as a team (13-of-25) compared to only 32 percent (8-of-25) for UNI. The Panthers were also 0-for-7 from three-point range in the first stanza.

Northern Iowa, proving their #20 ranking was no fluke, seized momentum in the beginning of the second half as the visiting team went on an 8-0 run thanks to four points each from Eglseder and Koch. The Panthers looked to tie the game at 29 but a Blair counter kept the Shockers ahead. (31-27).

The momentum began to swing back towards the home team as a David Kyles layup saw the Shockers build a modest four-point lead. Kyles hit the free-throw attempt to cap the three-point swing with Durley adding a bucket on the Shockers next possession.

Free throws from Farokhmanesh cut the UNI deficit to five with just under 10 minutes remaining. The WSU lead hovered around five as both teams exchanged blows. A two-point conversion at the charity stripe by Eglseder was answered on the home end on a turn-around jumper by Durley (6 minutes remaining).

Durley continued to give the Shocker offense a boost, this time from the free-throw line. The 6-7 inch center was 4-for-4 from the charity stripe with his last attempt pushing the home team ahead by seven (46-39, 5:00 left to play). WSU continued to build on Durley's offensive burst thanks to a layup by Hatch as the Shockers went up nine (48-39) with 3:54 on the clock.

Farokhmanesh kept the Panthers in the game as he hit on 2-of-3 from behind the arc, with the third attempt cutting the WSU lead to five with 18 seconds remaining. UNI, forced to foul, sent Durley to the line again and he responded by hitting both attempts to put Wichita State back up by seven (58-51). A Panther turnover put the ball and the game back into the hands of the Shockers with Murry sending the WSU fans home on a high note with a dunk and a Shocker win.

Murry finished with five points, three boards and three assists.

Kyles had three points and six boards.

The Shockers will head back on the road this coming weekend as they travel to Des Moines, Ia., for a 1:05 p.m., showdown with the Drake Bulldogs on Saturday, Jan. 23.