CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — So much for looking ahead.
Paul Jesperson matched his season-high with 13 points and Seth Tuttle also had 13 to keep No. 18 Northern Iowa in the hunt for the Missouri Valley Conference title with a 59-52 win over Southern Illinois on Wednesday night.
The Panthers (19-2, 8-1 Missouri Valley) rallied from their fifth halftime deficit of the season and stayed a game back of No. 12 Wichita State.
The Panthers host Wichita State on Saturday at the McLeod Center, where it is 10-0 this season. The Shockers (19-2, 9-0) won their 27th straight league game Wednesday night against Loyola and lead the Panthers by a game.
Jesperson, who had scored 12 points in his previous eight games, made 5-of-6 from the field, including 3-of-4 from the 3-point line in 24 minutes. It was his longest outing of the season since playing 26 minutes in the win over Iowa on Dec. 20.
“We’ve kind of gone with different guys on different nights,” UNI coach Ben Jacobson said.
“Not every night does Paul get the kind of minutes it takes to get into a little bit of a rhythm, and help your team, and tonight he did and he came through, big time.”