SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota – The UNI men’s basketball team dropped the season opener to the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky 93-87 at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic.
UNI opened the game with four made three pointers by AJ Green, Noah Carter, and freshman Bowen Born. The three would finish with 72 of the Panthers 87 points of the game.
UNI trailed the Hilltoppers 39-31 at half after shooting 37.9% (11-29) from the field and 44% (8-18) from beyond the arc. The Hilltoppers went 16 for 38 from the field in the first half and made just 4 of their 13 three-point attempts. The Panthers turned the ball over 12 times leading to 13 Hilltopper points. The Hilltoppers found success in the paint in the first half, scoring 22 of the teams 39 points down low.
The Panthers started the second half hot, scoring four three pointers in the opening three minutes to get within a single point of the Hilltoppers. Noah Carter hit threes early and often in the second half making 7 second half threes. Carter set a new single game record for made threes in a game with nine, breaking a record set by Cam Johnson in the 1993-94 season and tied by Paul Jesperson in the 2015-16 season and again last year by Trae Berhow.
The Panthers finished the game shooting 46% (29-63) from the field and tied the UNI record for team three pointers in a game with 20, going 20-39 from beyond the arc. The Panthers recorded 17 turnovers, surrendering 19 total points from turnovers.
