69
Urbana UU-M 0-1
86
Winner Indiana (PA) IUP-M 1-0
Urbana UU-M
0-1
69
Final
86
Indiana (PA) IUP-M
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Urbana UU-M 36 33 69
Indiana (PA) IUP-M 39 47 86

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Derrick Blyberg, Sports Information Director

Urbana Outlasted by No. 7 IUP in Opener

INDIANA, Pa. – Jahmere Howze scored 16 points in his Blue Knight debut, but Urbana couldn't keep up with No. 7 IUP in Friday night's 86-69 season-opening loss at the Kovalchick Complex. Urbana (0-1) will continue play at the S&T Regional Bank Atlantic Region Challenge with a 5:15 p.m. Saturday tipoff against Pitt-Johnstown.

Howze, a true freshman and native of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, led UU on 5-of-10 (50%) shooting from the field. The 6-foot-6 forward connected on his first career 3-pointer and went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line, while grabbing a team-high five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

Redshirt junior Chris Freeman also reached double figures with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 25 minutes of reserve duty.

A total of 11 Blue Knights scored at least two points, while freshman Colin Curran stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six assists, three rebounds, and one steal in his first career start and appearance. The McKinney, Texas native shot a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range for all nine points.

Urbana came out on fire and rattled off a 10-0 run, capped by a Howze dunk to give UU a 12-5 lead at the 14:17 mark in the first half.

The Blue Knights shot an impressive 56 percent from the field in the first half, and used another quick 7-0 spurt to grab their largest lead of the game, 22-10, on a Mike Newton layup with 10:35 remaining in the period. However, the host Crimson Hawks didn't go away as they chipped at the UU lead and eventually tied the game at 30-30 with just under four minutes until halftime.

The game's leading scorer Devon Cottrell slipped a layup in with one second left to give IUP a 39-36 lead at the break. Cottrell scored a career-high 18 points, leading last year's national runner-up squad to an overall 50-percent shooting night.

The second half was all IUP as Urbana never saw another lead. The Crimson Hawks outscored the Blue Knights 47-33 over the final 20 minutes.

UU still finished with a decent shooting night, sinking 46 percent from the field and outshooting IUP on 3-pointers. The Blue Knights went 47 percent from deep and limited the Crimson Hawks to only 30 percent. Both teams took care of the ball, as UU gave it up 13 times and IUP turned it over on 10 occasions.

The difference came in the paint, where the Crimson Hawks outrebounded the Blue Knights 40-25, and outscored UU 20-6 on second-chance opportunities.

The setback was Urbana's sixth straight defeat in a season opener.
 
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