CEDAR FALLS – Panthers face off against Panthers on Tuesday night as the UNI men’s basketball team welcomes Prairie View A&M to the McLeod Center for a midweek non-conference bout on Tuesday night. Tip Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network. Tickets are available for purchase online at UNIpanthers.com/tickets, or by calling 319-273-4849.
Northern Iowa goes toe-to-toe with Prairie View A&M for the first time since 1985, the longest gap between games for UNI with any of its non-conference opponents this year. UNI was victorious in its only prior meeting with Prairie View A&M on Nov. 30, 1985 in an 82-58 home win in the UNI-Dome. Northern Iowa looks to stay undefeated all-time against Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) teams, carrying a perfect 6-0 mark into Tuesday’s game.
The Panthers will look to right the ship heading into the final three games of the non-conference slate after a tough 84-80 loss last Saturday at Toledo. Leading for just over half of the game, UNI shot 51.8% from the field, including a 58% shooting clip in the first period, but struggled to hold on to the ball in the second half, allowing the Rockets to outscore the purple and gold 21-2 off turnovers in the four-point loss. Despite coming up short, Bowen Born scored a season-high 31 points while also sinking a career-best six three-point baskets. Trey Campbell and Jacob Hutson both tallied 12 points each, as Tytan Anderson led the Panthers with eight rebounds along with eight points. Nate Heise meanwhile posted a six-point, five-rebound and two assists game.
The three-point game has come on strong for the Panthers recently, with UNI making at least nine three-pointers in each of their last three games, shooting 43% from beyond the arc during that stretch. Indiana State is the only other program in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) to have accomplished this in that span. 39.7% of UNI’s shot attempts from the floor have come from three-point range.
Four Panthers enter Tuesday’s matchup averaging 10+ points per game, led by a 13.5 average from Heise, as well as 13 points per game from Born, 10.7 points by Anderson and 10.2 from Hutson. Anderson leads UNI off the class with 6.8 rebounds per contest, while Heise also leads with three assists per game. Campbell leads the way for the Panthers with a team-high 20 made three-pointers on the year, as well as 11 steals.
UNI is 80-11 (.879) under head coach Ben Jacobson when scoring 80+ points, and have won 18 of its last 23 games when scoring 80 or more points. Coming off a loss under Jacobson, the Panthers are 204-86 (.703).
Anderson enters Saturday’s contest on a 42-game scoring streak with at least one point scored, while Born carries the program’s fourth-highest career free throw percentage into the game against the Rockets (84.8%). Born can also become the 23rd member of UNI’s 1,200 career point club with his next eight points scored. Nate Heise can surpass 300 career rebounds with his next two boards, as Landon Wolf seeks to reach 300 career points with his next 11 points. Collectively as a program, the Panthers are five victories away from 700 since shifting to Division I.
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M PANTHERS
The Panthers wrap up a two-game road trip throughout the Midwest on Tuesday following a tough 107-56 loss at Iowa State on Sunday, where they committed a season-high 29 turnovers. Charles Lane Jr. led Prairie View A&M with 13 points, while Chris Felix Jr. and Javontae Hopkins Jr. each scored nine points
Coming off a 13-17 campaign with a sixth place finish in the SWAC last season at 9-10 in league play, the Panthers were tabbed to finish sixth in the SWAC’s preseason poll.
Prairie View A&M brings a solid defensive unit to the McLeod Center on Tuesday night, ranking third in the SWAC and in the top-25 nationally with 9.8 steals per game this year. The Panthers have recorded 10+ steals in five of their first eight games this year, including 14 on Sunday at Iowa State.
Charles Smith IV leads the Panthers with 16.6 points per game, while Felix Jr. has posted 13 points a game this season. Brian Myles has led Prairie View A&M off the glass with 7.5 rebounds per contest, as well as eight blocks, as Andre Nunley has recorded 18 total steals.
UNI men’s basketball (3-7 / 0-2 MVC) vs. Prairie View A&M (4-4 / 0-0 SWAC)
Dec. 12, 2023 | 7 p.m. CT
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
ESPN+ (Brad Wells: Play-by-Play / Matt Schneiderman: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
