CEDAR FALLS – UNI men’s basketball will close out the non-conference portion of the 2023-24 schedule on Thursday night as the Panthers hit the road to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
Winners of its last two games, Northern Iowa will look for its fifth straight win against the Huskies following an impressive offensive outing against Alcorn State on Sunday at home. The Panthers lead the all-time series with Northern Illinois, 15-8 and have not lost to the Huskies under head coach Ben Jacobson. UNI will also attempt to secure its first true road win of the year, as well as first win this season against a Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent after falling to Toledo on the road on Dec. 9.
UNI sank a season-high 14 three-point field goals in its 100-82 win over Alcorn State on Sunday, putting together consecutive wins for the first time this year. The Panthers set new season-highs for field goal percentage (56.7%), three-point shooting (48.3%) and free throw percentage (85.7%). Nate Heise posted a 24-point performance with a career-high five three-pointers, while Tytan Anderson notched a season-best 22 points. Bowen Born scored 17 points with six assists.
Heise, who was named the Missouri Valley Conference’s (MVC) Player of the Week on Monday, leads UNI with 15.3 points per game on 50.9% shooting from the floor and a team-high 36 assists. Born has averaged 13.4 points a game with a team-high 12 steals, while Anderson has recorded 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest. From beyond the three-point arc, Trey Campbell leads the purple and gold with a 54.3% shooting clip with 25 three-pointers made.
The three-point shot has come on strong for the Panthers recently, with UNI making at least eight three-pointers in each of their last six games, shooting 40.1% from beyond the arc during that stretch. Northern Iowa has also made 10+ three-pointers in three of its last five games.
UNI is 81-12 (.870) under head coach Ben Jacobson when scoring 80+ points, and have won 19 of its last 24 games when scoring 80 or more points.
Anderson enters Saturday’s contest on a 44-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 (84.6%). Landon Wolf seeks to reach 300 career points with his next 11 points. Collectively as a program, the Panthers are three victories away from 700 since shifting to Division I, and nine wins from 1,400 victories all-time.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES
The Huskies snapped a three-game skid on Monday night with a 92-48 rout over NAIA Calumet College of St. Joseph, shooting 57% from the field after a series of losses to Northwestern, Indiana State and Monmouth. NIU posted a 13-19 season in 2022-23 and was picked to finish fifth in the MAC preseason poll this year. Junior guard David Coit was selected to the MAC’s Preseason Second Team.
Northern Illinois brings a high-octane interior defense into Thursday’s matchup, leading the MAC and ranking 16th in the nation with 5.8 blocks per game. The Huskies are also top-20 in Division I in free throw attempts per game (26.4).
David Coit leads a quartet of Huskies averaging double-digit scoring figures with 17.5 points per game, plus a team-high 39 assists. Zarique Nutter has notched 16.1 points a game, with Xavier Amos posting 12.8 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds per contest and Philmon Gebrewhit recording an even ten points per game.
Panthers look to end non-conference action with a third straight win. UNI sits three wins shy of 700th Division I victory.
UNI men’s basketball (5-7 / 0-2 MVC) at Northern Illinois (6-4 / 0-0 MAC)
Dec. 21, 2023 | 7 p.m. CT
DeKalb, Ill. | Convocation Center (10,000)
ESPN+ (Matt Rodewald: Play-by-Play / Mark Lindo: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network (Brad Wells: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
