SIU men’s basketball is 13-2 for the first time since 2004 after beating Northern Iowa 75-73 Saturday at SIU arena in front of more than 6,000 fans.

This is SIU’s (13-2, 2-0) first 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference start since the 2009-10 season.

Senior guard Anthony Beane led SIU in scoring with 32 points, his third game scoring more than 30 points this season. Beane finished 6-10 from behind the 3-point arc.

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His six 3-pointers was a career high.

SIU’s 13 3-point baskets was the most since 2004 when the Salukis made 14 against UNI.

Beane threw down a dunk with four seconds left in the game to give the Salukis a 75-72 lead.

O’Brien fouled Jesperson, forcing him to shoot two free throws with one second remaining on the clock. He made the first and missed the second, but the rebound did not go the Panthers way and SIU secured the win.

Beane started the game scoring SIU’s first 3-pointer to tie the score at six 3:25 into the game.

UNI (9-6, 1-1) answered with a 9-0 run, led by sophomore guard Wyatt Lohaus, who scored seven points in 1:14.

Lohaus had 11 points at the half.

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Junior guard Leo Vincent made two 3-point field goals coming off the bench to give SIU a 28-23 lead with 5:22 left in the half.

SIU finished the half leading 36-30, and shot 7-11 from behind the 3-point arc and 13-25 from the field.

Junior forward Sean O’Brien was held to one point in the first half, but grabbed five rebounds.

Beane picked up where he left off in the first half and hit a 3-pointer 17 seconds into the second half.

UNI led the Missouri Valley Conference with 127 3-pointers going into the game against SIU. They made 2-10 3-point shots in the first half, but started the second half converting three of their first five attempts. They missed their next four attempts and finished the game with eight 3-pointers.

The Panthers trailed 46-43 with 15:11 remaining in the game.

Beane and O’Brien combined for the Salukis’ next six field goals between 14:59 and 7:12 remaining in the half and expanded the teams’ lead to 12.

Junior guard Tyler Smithpeters went three of four from behind the 3-point arc, including one with 5:17 left in the game to put SIU up 65-55.

The Salukis held a six-point lead coming out of the final media timeout.

Beane hit SIU’s next two field goals, including a 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the game to go up 70-59.

The Panthers went on a 13-3 run in the next 1:31.

UNI shrunk the lead to one point with 11.1 seconds left after a put back lay-up by senior guard Paul Jesperson, but was unable to regain the lead.

SIU men’s basketball plays Bradley at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Peoria.

Evan Jones can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @EvanJones_DE