The UNI men’s basketball team ventured down to Springfield, Mo., last Wednesday night for a Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) matchup against the Missouri State Bears.

Dominating on both ends of the floor, the Panthers came away with a convincing 63-43 victory.

Northern Iowa trailed 19-17 at the half in a low-scoring first 20 minutes of action, shooting a dismal 6-23, or 26 percent from the field. However, the second half was a completely different story as the purple and gold exploded with 46 points while shooting a blistering 70 percent from the field, only missing six total shots (14-20) in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Senior guard Wyatt Lohaus led the Panther men with 22 points, along with six rebounds. Junior Isaiah Brown tallied 15 points to go along with his six rebounds. Freshman star AJ Green added 10 points. Junior guard Spencer Haldeman led the second-unit with 12 points, seven of which came from the foul line.

The Panthers were able to hold MSU to 31 percent from the field for the entire game, as well as 2-18 from three-point range, for a microscopic 11 percent.

Riding the momentum of three straight wins, including that dominant win over Missouri State, the UNI men’s basketball squad was feeling a wave of confidence going into their Saturday night matchup against the Crusaders of Valparaiso University in the McLeod Center.

UNI was able to keep a steady lead throughout the 40 minutes of play, defeating their conference rival 64-53 for their fourth straight victory. The win puts the Panthers at 9-7 in conference play and in fourth place overall, trailing conference leader Drake by a game and a half with only two games remaining in the regular season.

Guard AJ Green paced the Panthers with 22 points on 9-16 shooting along with five rebounds. Luke McDonnell had a well-rounded performance, putting in 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

For the game, the Panther men held Valpo to 44 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from three-point range. A stout defensive effort once again from UNI only allowed two second-chance points from the visitors, as well as only two fast-break points.

The Panthers have two regular season games remaining, this Wednesday, Feb. 27, against Loyola-Chicago, and March 2 at Indiana State.