National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Northern Iowa 65, Denver 55
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Where: Magness Arena, Denver, Colorado
Officials: # David Hall, # John Higgins, # Kelly Self
Attendance: 1545

No. 24 Northern Iowa 65, Denver 55: Seth Tuttle's 12 points led a sparkling overall team effort as the Panthers authored an unbelievable shooting display in a road victory over the Pioneers.

Making its first appearance in the top 25 since the 2009-10 season, Northern Iowa (9-0) remained undefeated thanks to one of the greatest first-half shooting performances in college basketball history. The Panthers were 15-of-17 in the opening 20 minutes - including 11-of-11 from inside the arc - and finished at 70 percent shooting, not to mention a crisp 19-of-23 effort from the foul line.

Nate Engesser and Cam Griffin paced Denver (4-4) with 15 points apiece. The Pioneers, who used nine players - all guards - finished with a total of 13 rebounds and gathered only two of their 22 missed shots.

Northern Iowa made its first seven shots, including two 3-pointers by Matt Bohannon, and already were ahead 19-8 when Nate Buss misfired on a 3-pointer with about 11 minutes left in the half to spoil the team's perfect shooting night to that point. Bohannon missed a 3 about four minutes later, but Northern Iowa received two late 3-pointers by Paul Jesperson and cruised into halftime with a 42-25 lead.

Buss' layup with 14 minutes to go pushed the advantage to 50-30, but Denver scored 13 of the next 17 points to make things slightly interesting. Still, the Panthers never were threatened down the stretch, as Wes Washpun had a layup and four free throws in the final six minutes for Northern Iowa, which shot a more human-like 6-of-13 from the field in the second half.

GAME NOTEBOOK: G Deon Mitchell had 11 points, as did Washpun, while Jesperson chipped in 10 for Northern Iowa, which entered ranked 89th in the nation in field-goal percentage (46.1). ... The teams combined for three offensive rebounds. ... Every player who attempted a shot for the Panthers shot at least 50 percent from the field, while Washpun was 7-of-7 from the line to lead the impressive free-throw effort by Northern Iowa.
Top Game Performances
 
Northern Iowa   Denver
Seth Tuttle 12 Scoring Nate Engesser 15
Seth Tuttle 4 Assists Cam Griffin 3
Wes Washpun 5 Rebounds Cam Griffin 3
Wes Washpun 7 Free Throws Made Cam Griffin 5
Wes Washpun 2 Steals Cam Griffin 3
Seth Tuttle 1 Blocks Marcus Byrd 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Northern Iowa 65 70.0 4-8 19-23 11 20 1 5 14
Denver 55 47.6 7-23 8-9 11 11 3 8 9