Northern Iowa beats Evansville 95-81

Jan 29, 2014, 11:41 pm

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Deon Mitchell scored 20 points with six assists and grabbed six rebounds as Northern Iowa posted a 95-81 victory over Evansville Wednesday night.

Seth Tuttle also had 20 points for the Panthers (11-10, 5-4 Missouri Valley Conference). Matt Bohannon scored 19 and Wes Washpun had 11.

D.J. Balentine nearly doubled his season average with a career-high 43 points for the Aces (10-12, 3-6), outperforming the rest of the Evansville team combined. He was 10 of 19 from the field, 19 of 21 from the line, and sank four from beyond the arc during the contest.

But Balentine's stellar performance could not compensate for a lackluster showing from the remainder of the Evansville team.

The Panthers had a 54-43 lead at the break and never looked back, extending their advantage in the second period to 22 points, 90-68, on a Mitchell 3-pointer with 7:05 remaining.