McDermott leads Northern Iowa against Missouri State

By Canadian Press on February 20, 2025.

Missouri State Bears (20-5, 12-2 MVC) at Northern Iowa Panthers (13-12, 8-6 MVC)

Cedar Falls, Iowa; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Northern Iowa faces Missouri State after Maya McDermott scored 35 points in Northern Iowa’s 96-91 loss to the Murray State Racers.

The Panthers have gone 7-4 at home. Northern Iowa has a 0-2 record in one-possession games.

The Bears are 12-2 against MVC opponents. Missouri State has a 3-1 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Northern Iowa averages 74.6 points, 13.2 more per game than the 61.4 Missouri State allows. Missouri State averages 73.6 points per game, 4.3 more than the 69.3 Northern Iowa allows to opponents.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: McDermott is averaging 19.9 points and five assists for the Panthers. Kayba Laube is averaging 10.6 points over the last 10 games.

Lacy Stokes is scoring 12.5 points per game with 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists for the Bears. Kyrah Daniels is averaging 12.7 points and 3.1 assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 5-5, averaging 71.3 points, 31.6 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 8.5 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.2 points per game.

Bears: 9-1, averaging 76.2 points, 34.2 rebounds, 18.1 assists, 9.6 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.4 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press