|  Box Score (PDF) | Postgame Highlights

WICHITA, Kan. – The nation's longest active home winning streak is no more. Northern Iowa won a defensive battle, 53-50, Saturday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena, putting a stop to No. 25/24 Wichita State's 43-game run.

WSU rallied from a 15-point deficit early in the second half to knot the game at 44 with 11:32 to play. However, UNI outscored the Shockers 9-6 the rest of the way in a game punctuated by missed shots and opportunities.
 
That was especially the case for WSU, which grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and won the battle of the boards 48-27, yet managed just nine second-chance points while shooting a chilly 30.3 percent.

WSU (18-7, 12-2 MVC) has now dropped two of its last three games after starting Valley play with 12-consecutive wins. UNI (16-11, 8-6 MVC) has hit its stride after a slow start to the conference season, winning its sixth-straight.

Ron Baker scored all 12 of his points in the first half, finishing with seven rebounds and six assists. Fred VanVleet scored eight points and collected three rebounds and three assists. Zach Brown added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Klint Carlson and Wyatt Lohaus led the way for UNI with 12 and 11 points off the bench, respectively. Matt Bohannon added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep and Wes Washpun chipped in eight.

The Shockers lost in Wichita for the first time in nearly three years (Feb. 27, 2013 to Evansville). Their school-record streak nearly doubled the old mark (22), set by the 1981-82 and 82-83 Shockers, and was the fourth longest in MVC history.
 
WSU's 24-game conference home streak also tied for the sixth longest in Valley history and fell one win short of the school record (25, set between 1982-85).
 
The Shockers lost at Charles Koch Arena for only the 34^th time since its 2003 renovation (they're 154-34 overall, .819, in 13 seasons). UNI's six wins are the most of any visiting opponent during that span (6-7, .462).

The Shockers connected on seven three-pointers but needed 31 attempts (the fourth-highest single-game total in school history).
 
Their last two misses will sting the most. Baker just missed on a jumper that would have tied the game with 5 seconds left in regulation. The rebound caromed out of bounds, and WSU maintained possession with 2.8 seconds to play, down 53-50. Conner Frankamp got off a clean look from the corner ahead of the buzzer but couldn't connect.
 
UNI snapped a run of 18-straight games in which the Shockers had led at halftime by scoring the final 12 points of the opening period to build up a 38-27 advantage.
 
The Panthers hit over 54 percent from the field in the first half (13-of-24) and scored two more quick buckets in the first two minutes of the second half to up their lead to 15.
 
Washpun drove for an easy dunk with 18:03 to go, putting UNI up 42-27.
 
That was a decided turning point for the Shockers on both ends. They held UNI to just 11 points over the final 18 minutes and quickly got themselves back into the game.
 
Markis McDuffie connected on a three-pointer, Baker snuck in from behind to block Washpun's driving shot, VanVleet drilled a trey, WSU forced UNI into a shotclock violation, and then VanVleet connected on a another from long range. In a span of just 1:34, the Shockers had cut a 15-point deficit down to six.
 
WSU scored on four-of-five trips, starting at the 13:47 mark. McDuffie's layup knotted things up at 44, capping a 17-2 Shocker run.
 
Yet, WSU was unable to capitalize on its momentum. Neither team scored over the next 4:34, and the game remained tied.
 
The visitors were the first to strike. After managing just two points over a stretch of 11-minutes since taking its big lead, UNI broke the stalemate with back-to-back Lohaus jumpers. Bonhannon's three-pointer ended a 90-second flurry that pushed the Panthers to a 51-44 edge with 5:22 left to play.
 
Brown connected on a trey at the 3:50-mark, ending an eight-minute Shocker scoring drought, during which they came up empty on 10-straight trips down the court. However, it took them another two-minutes to score again.
 
Washpun's layup made it a six-point game. Shaquille Morris rebounded a VanVleet miss and hammered home a dunk to cut the margin to 53-49 with 1:29 remaining.
 
WSU kept UNI off the scoreboard for the final 3:19 with a series of big stops, but the offense was unable to capitalize.
 
Morris snagged another offensive board and was fouled on the putback. He converted the back half of two free throw attempts to get it 53-50 with 38 seconds left.
 
UNI ran the shot clock down and simultaneously bled the game clock to 12 seconds before Brown blocked a Washpun shot into the arms of Baker, who raced up the court, setting up the final sequence.
 
The teams started out of the gate quickly, as WSU led 12-11 at the first media timeout behind a combined five made three-pointers from both teams. UNI hit three of its first five attempts from outside.
 
At the eight-minute mark of the first half, Northern Iowa held a 22-21 lead on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. Baker led the Shocker charge by scoring 10 of the team's first 19 points.
 
UNI and WSU traded baskets that briefly saw the Shockers go up by one before a pair of Panther free throws and a three-point play gave UNI a 31-27 lead with less than three minutes to play until halftime.
 
Wichita State closed the first half hitting just two of its last 15 attempts from the field, while going the final 3:53 without scoring. The Shockers' 11-point halftime deficit was their second-largest of the season (WSU trailed by 19 vs. Iowa).
 
Baker led all players with 12 first half points on 5-of-9 shooting to go with four boards and two assists. Players not named Ron Baker for WSU were just 6-of-22 from the field and 1-for-10 from three-point range.
 
The Shockers shot just 35 percent in the first half, including 3-for-15 from beyond the arc. On the other side, Northern Iowa maintained its hot shooting by hitting 13-of-24 attempts (54 percent), including 4-of-9 from deep.
 
Carlson led the Panthers with 10 points off the bench, while Jesperson and Lohaus added seven apiece in the first 20 minutes.
 
Up Next
The Shockers continue a three-game homestand on Monday with a makeup date against New Mexico State. The teams were originally scheduled to play on Dec. 28, but the game was postponed when NMSU was unable to make the trip due to winter weather. The game tips at 7 p.m. CT on Cox Channel Kansas.
 

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POST GAME QUOTE SHEET:

Gregg Marshall on...
 
…Moving forward after a tough loss at home?
"We've lost before and my job now is to get us to bounce back. We've got to bounce back and figure out ways to score and come out of the gate a little better, and hopefully get back on the winning trail."? ?
 
…Preparing for New Mexico State on a short turnaround?
"We don't have a lot of time to prepare for these guys. We thought this was the time to squeeze this game in and, as it stands now, it'll be like an NBA schedule. We won't really practice too much. We'll do video of UNI and video of New Mexico State, have a walkthrough tomorrow, and then play Monday night."
 
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Fred VanVleet on...
 
… WSU's cold shooting day
"For the most part we got good looks, you've just got to make them, simple as that. [A] majority of the shots we were getting were open, and either you make them or you don't; it's a make-or-miss game…Shot-making is a great equalizer: if you're making them, it can cover up a lot of stuff, and when you miss them, it exposes a lot."
 
… On UNI's performance
"Give them all the credit in the world, they played a heck of a game."
 
"We spotted them too many points in the first half, that was really the problem, giving up 38. If we cut that number down a little bit, and still hold them to 15 in the second half, you're looking at a different game."