CEDAR FALLS – UNI men’s basketball closes out the 2022-23 season late on Sunday morning as it hosts the Belmont Bruins in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play inside the McLeod Center. The Panthers are 12-4 in the final game of the regular season under head coach Ben Jacobson (since 2006-07) and have won their last three regular season finales.
UNI looks to close the regular season slate out strong with a win to build momentum towards next week’s MVC Tournament in St. Louis. Currently sitting in position for the no. 8 seed for Arch Madness, the Panthers can clinch the no. 7 seed on Sunday with a win and a loss by Murray State to Valparaiso.
Facing off against the Bruins for only the second time in program history, the Panthers look to even the series after coming up short at Belmont back on Jan. 14 in Nashville. The Panthers nearly pulled off a 16-point comeback, but fell 76-72 after a strong three-point shooting performance by the Bruins.
UNI men’s basketball vs. Belmont
11:30 a.m. CT | Feb. 26, 2023
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650
CBS Sports Network (Alex Del Barrio: Play-by-Play / Tim Doyle: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
UNI PANTHERS
UNI struggled to defend the three-point line and finish shots in the paint in a 86-63 loss to the Southern Illinois Salukis on Wednesday night in Carbondale, snapping a three-game winning streak against SIU.
Facing off against one of the top-15 scoring defenses in the nation, the Panthers missed their first 7 shots from the field, despite holding the Salukis to a limited number of shot attempts. After being held to just 4 points in the opening minutes. Tytan Anderson scored 6 straight points for UNI while the Panther defense held Southern Illinois scoreless on 4 straight possessions with 3 turnovers. A trio of Landon Wolf free throws pulled the Panthers within 4 points at 15-11, but UNI struggled to defend the three-point arc against an SIU team that shot 8-of-14 from distance in the opening period. Wolf knocked down a three-point basket for UNI with under a minute to play in the period as the Panthers went into the halftime break trailing 34-23.
Southern Illinois shot 63% in the second stanza and cruised to the final horn despite the Panther offense shooting 50% from the floor. Limited offensively without Bowen Born for much of the game (injury), the Panthers gave up 9 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes as part of a season-high 17 shots allowed from three-point range. Anderson and Wolf helped pace UNI attack despite facing double-digit deficits for most of the half as the Panthers outscored the Salukis 32-24 in the paint.
Anderson led the Panthers with a team-high 21 points, his second 20+ point game of the season, along with 5 rebounds and a game-high 4 steals defensively. Wolf drained three baskets from three-point range to finish with 17 points, as Trey Campbell scored 7 points. Cole Henry and Drew Daniel both finished with 5 points each. Michael Duax led the Panthers on the glass with a game-high 6 rebounds with 4 points.
Born has averaged 17.1 points per game in league play this season, and ranks fifth in the MVC in total points scored (505) and fourth in overall average (17.4 points per game).
Born’s 10 highest scoring games of his career have all come this season.
30 points at Drake (Feb. 1)
30 points vs. Northern Illinois (Nov. 26)
29 points vs. Evansville (Dec. 3)
27 points vs. Southern Illinois (Jan. 7)
27 points vs. Towson (Dec. 17)
27 points vs. Toledo (Dec. 6)
25 points at Illinois State (Dec. 31)
23 points vs. Missouri State (Dec. 28)
23 points vs. Murray State (Jan. 10)
22 points at Bradley (Nov. 30)
Anderson’s 11 double-doubles lead the MVC and rank 24th most in the nation. He also leads the league in rebounds per game (8.9) and defensive rebounds per contest (6.6). Anderson’s league-best 257 total rebounds this season are 32nd most in the country. The Eldridge, Iowa native entered the season averaging 1.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
Eight freshmen in the MVC this season have scored 200+ points in their first season on the floor, including three Panthers in Michael Duax (281 points), Trey Campbell (222 points) and Landon Wolf (213 points).
Collectively, the Panthers lead the nation in points per game scored by in-state players, as Iowa-born players have accounted for 68.8 points a game.
The Panthers have averaged 15.3 personal fouls per game, third fewest in the MVC this year. As a result, UNI has also averaged 17.3 free throw attempts per game, fourth most in the conference.
BELMONT BRUINS
Closing out their first season in the MVC, the Bruins sit in a three-way tie for third place in the league standings heading into Sunday’s game. Belmont can secure as high as the no. 3 seed at Arch Madness, and as low at the no. 5 seed based on this weekend’s results. Belmont is one of five MVC teams with 20+ wins this season, marking the first year in league history that five programs have registered 20+ wins prior to the conference tournament.
Making their first-ever trip to Cedar Falls, the Bruins look to build momentum heading into the conference tournament following a thrilling 89-88 home win over Indiana State on Wednesday night. Led by 14+ point efforts from Ben Sheppard, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Drew Friberg and Keishawn Davidson, Belmont rallied from down as many as 19 points in the biggest comeback in Curb Event Center history.
Sheppard leads the Bruins with 19.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.7% from the field. Freshman forward Cade Tyson has notched 13.2 points in his first season with Belmont, while Friberg leads the MVC from three-point range, shooting a league-best 46.6% from beyond the arc.
In addition to being one of the MVC’s top shooting teams, the Bruins also have proven to be one of its best passing teams, ranking second in the conference with 15.2 assists a game and registering an assist/turnover ratio of 1.3.
