CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) - Hunter Rhodes had 12 points and Bennett Koch added 10 as Northern Iowa held Evansville scoreless in the final two minutes to secure a 47-41 win on Tuesday night.
Northern Iowa (13-14, 5-10 Missouri Valley Conference) won the game at the free-throw line, making 12 of 19, while the Purple Aces did not get to the foul line as Northern Iowa was called for just nine fouls.
Evansville made three more shots from the floor, hitting 18 of 49 while limiting the Panthers to 15-of-54 shooting (28 percent). Northern Iowa won the rebound battle 41-33.
Northern Iowa was up 30-23 at the break. Evansville’s Ryan Taylor drilled a 3-pointer to close to 43-41 with 2:08 remaining but that ended the scoring for the Purple Aces. Klint Carlson and Rhodes made four free throws in the final minutes to seal the win.
Taylor had 26 points, hitting 4 of 9 from distance, for Evansville (16-12, 6-9).
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