N. Iowa 64, Evansville 51

1/2/2008 10:25 PM

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) -Adam Koch scored a career-high 20 points to lead Northern Iowa to a 64-51 win over Evansville on Wednesday night.

Northern Iowa (10-3, 2-0 Missouri Valley) held the Purple Aces to 29 percent shooting and used a 13-5 run late in the second half to seal the win.

The Panthers led 50-43 with 7:30 left when Eric Coleman sparked the run, scoring 10 of his 12 points in a five-minute span.

Evansville (5-7, 0-2) struggled to stop Coleman in the paint after center Pieter Van Tongeren and his backup Clint Hopf fouled out late in the game.

Northern Iowa led 33-24 at halftime and built a 48-32 lead with a 12-3 run early in the second half.

Jordan Eglseder scored 10 for Northern Iowa and Coleman grabbed 10 rebounds.

Van Tongeren led Evansville with 13 points and Victor Gomez added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Evansville outrebounded the Panthers 43-31, but the Panthers shot 47.8 percent from the floor.