Nate Heise, Tytan Anderson shine in Northern Iowa basketball's win over Drake
CEDAR FALLS − Northern Iowa’s high-speed play and pressure-driven defense caused Drake men’s basketball to stumble in Saturday’s game.
Despite the Bulldogs’ best efforts – scoring more points in the paint, off turnovers and off the bench – the Panthers leaned on 18-point performances from Tytan Anderson and Nate Heise to pull off the 91-77 win.
“Playing as hard as we can, playing as fast as we can,” UNI coach Ben Jacobson said. “Get some more guys out there really working to do what we can to increase the pace of the game.”
UNI (16-13, 10-8 Missouri Valley) jumped on the offense early, got into the lane with ease and controlled the pace. There were times when the Bulldogs evened the scales, but Northern Iowa found a way to stop the momentum each time.
“I thought their fight was terrific from start to finish,” Drake coach Darian DeVries said. “That was the difference in the game.”
The Bulldogs (23-6, 14-4 MVC) trailed 43-39 at halftime. Drake started the second half strong and scored six straight points to take its first lead of the game.
“Our physicality, we came out with a good mindset,” DeVries said. “Took the lead and then it was gone very quickly.”
UNI responded with a 12-0 run spanning nearly three minutes. The Bulldogs found themselves in a hole again, attempting to close the 55-45 gap with 16:54 left in the second half.
For most of the game, the Bulldogs battled back each time UNI pulled ahead. Northern Iowa never led by double-digits in the first half, but the Panthers took control in the second. UNI’s largest lead was 17 points.
The Panthers’ defense executed its game plan well, which meant containing Drake’s secondary options – even if it meant UNI couldn’t hold off Tucker DeVries.
Northern Iowa held Atin Wright, Kevin Overton and Darnell Brodie below their scoring averages. The Panthers outrebounded Drake on both ends, as well.
“I thought we did a better job on Tucker tonight,” Jacobson said. “He’s a terrific player, having a monster year and, even in saying that, I felt like Nate (Heise) in particular was closer to him tonight.
“Overton and Wright have made a lot of threes in the last stretch. We got a little bit lucky on a couple in the first half but I do think we did a better job defensively of challenging some of the plays.”
Big plays from the big man
Northern Iowa’s Jacob Hutson hit just one 3-pointer this season ahead of Saturday’s game. He went 1-of-9, which makes sense since deep shots aren’t usually on a 6-foot-11 center’s resume.
Hutson made three 3s against Drake, tying a career high. He finished with 14 points, two rebounds, an assist and a block in the win.
"I was kind of forced to shoot the first one because the shot clock was expiring,” Hutson said. “That gave me some confidence going in, but it was a lot of fun being able to hit those 3s.”
Anderson credited the work his teammate puts in during practice and wasn’t surprised that Hutson was able to knock down a few game-changing deep shots.
Colby Garland gets back into pre-injury form
The Bulldogs’ true freshman missed a few games this season. He picked up some minutes in recent games and looked like himself again in the rivalry matchup.
Garland subbed in early after Conor Enright found himself in foul trouble. In 25+ minutes off the bench, he scored 13 points, recorded two assists and grabbed two rebounds.
Garland also took on the challenge of defending Bowen Born at times.
“Colby gave us a nice night off the bench,” Darian DeVries said. “Colby’s mindset was good. He was able to get downhill, made some nice plays for us (and) defensively did a pretty solid job, as well.”
Regular-season series split
Drake won the first matchup this season, 77-63, in the Knapp Center. Tucker DeVries scored a game-high 29 points and went 5-of-12 from 3-point range.
Trey Campbell managed 18 points for the Panthers, but UNI struggled from distance. Northern Iowa shot 18.2% – 27.8% overall – from beyond the arc.
The roles reversed on Saturday. DeVries again led all scorers with 28 points. But he went just 2-of-9 from deep. Drake made 22.7% of its shots from 3-point range and 16.7% in the first half.
“That’s basketball,” Darian DeVries said. “You’re gonna miss some. But I thought some of our looks were just challenged. Their aggressiveness got us out of our spots, got us out of our flow.”
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Nate Heise, Tytan Anderson shine in UNI basketball's win over Drake
