CEDAR FALLS – The Panthers’ Men’s Basketball team returns to full-season action with the announcement of the 2021-2022 full schedule.
Wednesday afternoon UNI released its non-conference schedule along with the Tuesday afternoon release of the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball schedule. The Panthers will begin the ’21-’22 campaign on November 9th by welcoming Nicholls State University from Thibodaux, Louisiana to the McLeod Center. UNI will then have a week off before returning to action on the road against Arkansas (Nov. 17th) and St. Bonaventure (Nov. 27th).
The Panthers will have two more home games during the non-conference season against Richmond (Dec. 5th) and Jackson State (Dec. 14), while beginning MVC play with a visit to Peoria to take on Bradley on December 1st. UNI will then finish the non-conference season on the road. The mid-December road swing will include a game in Huntington, West Virginia against Marshall (Dec. 18th) and a week-long stay in Hawaii for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic from December 22nd through Christmas Day.
UNI will then return from their holiday break in the New Year with a two-game homestand against Evansville (Jan. 2nd) and Valparaiso (Jan. 5th). The Panthers will then hit the road for a single game against Missouri State (Jan. 8th) before returning home for a game at McLeod with Indiana State (Jan.11th). UNI will then have its first full road trip of the conference season with stops in Carbondale (Jan. 15th) and Valparaiso (Jan. 19th).
The Panthers come back to Cedar Falls for a matchup with in-state rivals Drake (Jan. 22nd) before heading back out on the road for a game against Evansville (Jan. 26th). UNI returns to the McLeod Center for two games against Illinois State (Jan 29th) and Bradley (Feb. 2nd). The team then travels west to take on Drake (Feb. 5th) at the Knapp Center. The Panthers return home for a game against Southern Illinois (Feb. 9th) then heading out to Illinois for games against Loyola (Feb. 13th) and Illinois State (Feb. 16th).
UNI will wrap up the regular season with three games at the end of February with two games at home and one on the road. The first home game will be against Missouri State (Feb. 20th) while the last road game of the season will take place in Terre Haute against Indiana State (Feb. 23rd). The Panthers will then close out the regular season on February 26th in the McLeod Center against reigning Missouri Valley Conference champs, the Loyola Ramblers.
The MVC tournament will then take place in St. Louis, Missouri at the Enterprise Center from Thursday, March 3rd until Sunday, March 6th.
The Panthers finished the 2020-2021 season with a 10-15 record overall and a 7-11 conference record. UNI made it past the first round of the MVC tournament in 2021 beating Illinois State 65-60 before having their quarterfinals game against Drake canceled due to COVID-19 precautions. The Panthers return all of their starting 5 and the entire 2020-2021 roster. Also returning to the team is AJ Green the 2019 MVC Player of the Year who only appeared in 3 games last season after a season-ending injury.
2021-22 MBB Schedule
Tuesday, Nov. 9 – Nicholls State
Wednesday, Nov. 17 – at Arkansas
Saturday, Nov. 27 – at St. Bonaventure
Wednesday, Dec. 1 – at Bradley
Sunday, Dec. 5 – Richmond
Tuesday, Dec. 14 – Jackson State
Saturday, Dec. 18 – at Marshall
Wednesday, Dec. 22 – North Liberty (Hawaii)
Thursday, Dec. 23 – TBD
Saturday, Dec. 25 – TBD
Sunday, Jan. 2 – Evansville
Wednesday, Jan. 5 – Valparaiso
Saturday, Jan. 8 – at Missouri State
Tuesday, Jan. 11 – Indiana State
Saturday, Jan. 15 – at Southern Illinois
Wednesday, Jan. 19 – at Valparaiso
Saturday, Jan. 22 – Drake
Wednesday, Jan. 26 – at Evansville
Saturday, Jan. 29 – Illinois State
Wednesday, Feb. 2 – Bradley
Saturday, Feb. 5 – at Drake
Wednesday, Feb. 9 – Southern Illinois
Sunday, Feb. 13 – at Loyola
Wednesday, Feb. 16 – at Illinois State
Sunday, Feb. 20 – Missouri State
Wednesday, Feb. 23 – at Indiana State
Saturday, Feb. 26 – Loyola
