Junior Isaiah Stafford (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Crispus Attucks [John A. Logan / Southern Indiana]) tallied a game-high 21 points and fellow junior Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) turned in a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists, but the Valparaiso University men’s basketball team fell to UNI 86-67 on Wednesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center. A hot-shooting Panther team hit at a 66.7 percent clip.
How It Happened
- The game was tight and low scoring in its early stages as a triple by DeAveiro with 11:49 left of first-half time cut UNI’s lead to 11-10.
- Valpo clawed back to within one possession several more times, first on a bucket by Jerome Palm (Almere, The Netherlands / Echnaton [Hillsborough CC]) and then on a 3 by Connor Barrett that made it 17-15 at the 10:27 mark.
- UNI stayed in front, but Valpo again got back within one score when Jahari Williamson (Pickering, Ontario, Canada / Royal Crown Academy) hit a triple with nine minutes remaining in the half to make it 21-18. DeAveiro drained from 3 again at the 8:23 mark to make it 23-21.
- UNI rattled off the next six points to create some separation for the first time at 29-21. The guests went into halftime ahead 38-26.
- The Panthers shot 53.8 percent in the first half, but their hot night reached a different level after the break. They hit 20 of their 25 shots in the second stanza, posting a robust shooting clip of 80 percent.
- After Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest [Link Year]) had the first bucket of the second half to cut the lead to 10, UNI scored the next 10 points to make it 48-28 with 17:21 and didn’t look back for the game’s duration.
Inside the Game
- Stafford scored 21 points to lead all scorers while knocking down four of his nine 3-point attempts. He went 8-of-16 from the floor. This was his 10th double-figure showing in his last 11 outings. Including his junior college season, he surpassed 1,000 career points on Wednesday, but points scored at the JUCO level do not officially count, so he will not be officially recognized for scoring 1,000 career points until he does so at the NCAA level.
- DeAveiro became just the second Valpo player in the last 15 years to notch a points-assists double-double, joining Nick Edwards on Dec. 21, 2022 vs. Stonehill. He was the first to do so in a league game since Valpo joined the MVC.
- DeAveiro’s 10 assists matched his career high that was set on Nov. 13, 2022 vs. Western Michigan and tied on Dec. 19 of this season vs. Samford.
- DeAveiro became the first Valpo player to go the full 40 minutes in a regulation game since Dec. 29, 2022, Nick Edwards at Drake.
- Williamson went 5-of-9 from the field for an efficient 12 points.
- UNI’s field-goal percentage of 66.7 was the highest by a Valpo opponent in league play since joining The Valley. Valpo was outscored 44-18 in the paint.
- Schwieger had a team-high six rebounds to go along with nine points.
- Senior walk-on turned scholarship player Anthony Sciarroni (Columbus, Ohio / St. Francis DeSales [Alderson Broaddus at Findlay]) hit a 3-pointer, his third of the season.
Postgame Press Conference
Click here for postgame press conference.
Up Next
The Beacons (6-20, 2-13 MVC) will visit Missouri State on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be televised on the MVC-TV Network, including NBC Sports Chicago Plus in the Chicago market.
