CEDAR FALLS – UNI men’s basketball looks for a third straight Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) win on Wednesday night as the Panthers face off against the Belmont Bruins for the second time this season.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT with live coverage available on CBS Sports Network and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
The Panthers will also host a pregame social at Mafiaoza’s (2400 12th Avenue in Nashville) from 5:30 p.m. CT to 7:30 p.m. CT. Attendance is free and open to the public with pre-event registration encouraged. To RSVP and for more information, click HERE.
Northern Iowa, will look to avenge its loss to Belmont on November 29 at home, when it fell to the Bruins by a score of 90-70 in its MVC opener. The Panthers were victorious in their last outing on Sunday afternoon with a 70-60 road win at Murray State, its first-ever road win against the Racers. UNI enters Wednesday night having won seven of its last nine games, and six of its previous seven.
Head coach Ben Jacobson will have the opportunity to match a 68-year old record as he can tie Henry P. Iba’s MVC record of 187 wins against conference opponents with a win. Jacobson, the second winningest coach in league history in overall games (344), has won 186 games in conference play.
Most MVC Wins (Conference only games)
Henry P. Iba (Oklahoma State) – 187
Ben Jacobson (UNI) – 186
Dana Altman (Creighton) – 182
Eddie Hickey (Creighton/Saint Louis) – 163
Barry Hinson (Missouri State/Southern Illinois) – 155
In their weekend victory over the Racers, the Panthers overcame an early nine-point deficit and battled back from a two-point hole at halftime thanks to a smothering defensive effort and offensive push in the second period. Using a 14-0 run down the stretch, UNI roared into a multi-possession lead in the final minutes and held the Racers to under 40% shooting from the floor in the second frame.
Nate Heise finished the afternoon with a game-high 24 points and ten rebounds for his second double-double of the season, while also tying a season-best with five assists. Kyle Pock scored 12 points on three-of-seven shooting, as Bowen Born tallied nine points. Trey Campbell posted seven points with a new season-high with four assists, and a season-best tying three steals, with Cole Henry posting a season-high seven points and Michael Duax finishing with six points.
Born leads the Panthers through 17 games with a 14.4-point per game average shooting 40.4% from the field and 96.1% from the free throw line, the second-best clip in the nation. The junior guard from Norwalk, Iowa has also recorded double-digit points in nine of his last ten games, averaging 17.9 points during that span.
Heise has notched 14.1 point a game and 5.6 rebounds with a team-high 43 assists and 11 blocks, while Anderson has recorded 11.4 points with a team-leading 6.2 rebounding average per game. Jacob Hutson is averaging 9.2 points a game, the best single-season average of his career, while Campbell has posted 8.9 points per game with a 46.7% shooting clip and 20 steals.
Anderson enters Sunday’s contest on a 49-game stretch with at least one point scored, while Born carries the program’s third-highest career free throw percentage into the game against the Racers (86.1%). Landon Wolf seeks to reach 300 career points with his next eight points, while Campbell is closing in on 400 career points.
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.
BELMONT BRUINS
The Bruins have split their last four games since turning the calendar to 2024, most recently coming up short in a 94-64 road loss to Indiana State in Terre Haute. Belmont dominated the Panthers in its last meeting on November 29 in Cedar Falls, shooting 52.6% from the field and outpacing UNI in a 20-point victory.
Belmont enters Wednesday night’s game as the MVC’s second-highest shooting team at 48.2%, trailing only Indiana State. The Bruin defense also leads the league with 8.2 steals per game. Malik Dia leads Belmont with 17.5 points per game, with Ja’Kobi Gillespie averaging 16.2 points, plus a league-leading 36 steals on the year. Reigning MVC Freshman of the Year Cade Tyson has notched 16.1 points a game.
UNI men’s basketball (9-8 / 3-3 MVC) at Belmont (11-6 / 4-2 MVC)
Jan. 17, 2023 | 8 p.m. CT
Nashville, Tenn. | Curb Event Center (5,085)
CBS Sports Network (Chris Lewis: Play-by-Play / BJ Taylor: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play)
