Braves Fall to UNI to Complete Busy Road Trip to Start 2017-18

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Playing its third road game in three different states in four days, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program dropped a 73-45 decision to Northern Iowa on Monday at the McLeod Center.
 
The Braves (0-3) maneuvered their way from LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Friday, to Omaha, Nebraska to play Creighton last night to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on UNI.
 
Senior A.J. Mosby led Alcorn with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore Maurice Howard tallied eight points, and senior Reginal Johnson ended with seven points and six rebounds.
 
UNI (1-1) shot 15-27 (.556) from three-point range. The Panthers were guided by Juwan McCloud with 18 points. Both Tywhon Pickford and Bennett Koch recorded double-doubles as Pickford posted 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Bennett had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
 
The Braves were ahead 6-2 early after three-pointers by Mosby and Johnson. Another long-range shot by Mosby kept Alcorn in front 9-7 at the 16:34 mark.
 
The Panthers responded with an 18-0 run to lead 25-9 midway through the half.
 
The Braves kept within striking distance after a three-pointer by Howard and jumpers by Mosby and Johnson cut the deficit to 25-16 with 7:34 remaining. A lay-up by Johnson made it a 32-25 game with 1:32 to go, but UNI was able to take a 37-27 edge into the break.
 
Alcorn trailed 46-35 with 13:14 left in the second half when the Panthers went on a 9-0 run to pull ahead by 20. UNI shot 8-14 (.571) from beyond-the-arc in the second half.
 
The Braves will continue their season-opening five-game road trip Friday when they travel to Baylor for an 8 p.m. tip. Their home opener is on Wednesday, Nov. 22 when they host Yale from the Ivy League at 12:30 p.m. at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
NOTES
- With seven points in the game, Johnson is now 26 points away from reaching 1,000 in his career.
 
- Mosby turned in his 19th career double-figure scoring game and second this year. He shot 6-for-11 from the field and 3-for-6 from three-point range. Mosby played a team-high 30 minutes.
 
- Carter grabbed a career-high four steals in the game.
 
- The Braves outscored the Panthers 15-12 in bench points. Alcorn saw 11 different student-athletes log minutes.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson
On his overall thoughts of the three-game road trip to start the season
"I thought our guys played hard. We obviously didn't want to see these other teams shoot the ball the way they did against us, but it's hard when you're playing against such quality opponents. We were trying to stay on them, but it's tough when the other team makes 12-15 threes a night. Nevertheless, our guys never dropped their heads and they competed. We know we have to be better, but these games will definitely help us by the time we get to conference. Our guys are growing and we're seeing the spots that we need to get better at."
 
On finding ways to stay competitive for 40 minutes against high-quality opponents
"We had good spurts in all three games, but we just can't have the lapses that we did especially against teams that shoot the ball the way that they do. Our guys were guarding and challenging, but the other teams were making tough shots. The shooting percentages obviously weren't in our favor and it's tough to win when schools make a high percentage from the three-point line. It's hard to win any game like that, let alone against the opponents we've been playing."
 
On staying positive
"One of the best things I saw from this road trip was our team's positivity. We saw our mistakes and we know the things that we have to get better at. It's good that the mistakes we are making are coming early and we know there's a light at the end of the tunnel."  
 
On student-athletes that stood out on the road trip
"A.J. is definitely one of our floor generals out there. I thought he played solid in all three games and he's more aggressive than he was last year. Reginal Johnson also stood out all three nights. Tyler Carter is another guy who came out last night and scored a double-figure game, and took four or five charges on the road trip. He's really battling and playing hard. Overall, I'm really confident in this team and where we could be at the end of the season."
 
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