CEDAR FALLS – The March to the Arch is on as UNI men’s basketball kicks off postseason play this Friday at the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament, commonly known as “Arch Madness” on Friday in St. Louis.
Northern Iowa, who earned the four-seed in the 12-team bracket by virtue of a road win at Southern Illinois in Sunday’s regular season finale, will have a first-round bye into the quarterfinals and will play the winner of Thursday’s first-round matchup between fifth-seeded Belmont and 12th-seeded Valparaiso.
UNI’s quarterfinal game will tip at 2:30 p.m. CT at Enterprise Center with live coverage available on the MVC TV Network (ESPN+, Bally Sports Midwest, Bally Sports Indiana Extra, Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports South, Bally Sports Southeast, NBC Sports Chicago). Live radio coverage will also be available on the Panther Sports Radio Network with J.W. Cox and Kevin Boyle with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes before tip.
Entering the conference tournament winners of five of their last six games, the Panthers look to capture their sixth MVC Tournament championship, and first since 2016 (also as a four-seed) by winning three games in three days in the Gateway City. Sitting at 28-25 all-time in Arch Madness play, UNI reached the quarterfinal round of the tournament last season as the eight-seed, defeating ninth-seeded Illinois State in the first-round before narrowly falling to top-seeded Bradley. The Panthers are 11-12 all-time and 8-8 under head coach Ben Jacobson in the quarterfinal round in St. Louis.
After a 31-game regular season where UNI posted 18 wins, Nate Heise leads the Panthers in scoring with 13.6 points per game, as well as a 6.3 rebounds per contest average. With 898 career points and 20 games of ten or more points this season, Heise can join UNI’s 900 career point club with his next two points scored.
Tytan Anderson, who joined Heise with four double-doubles each this year, has scored at least one point in 63 consecutive games, the longest streak of all active Panthers. UNI’s rebounding leader with 6.7 boards per game, is also closing in on another milestone with Heise as both look to become 400-point, 200-rebound players this season. After reaching the milestone last year, Anderson can become the first Panther to do so in consecutive years since Seth Tuttle (2011-15) completed the achievement in three straight seasons from 2013-15. Anderson and Tuttle are the only two UNI players to reach the milestone since the turn of the century.
Bowen Born has notched 13.6 points a game this year, including a team-high 13.3 points against conference opponents while ranking in the top-30 nationally in free throw percentage (89%). Born, who ranks tenth in school history in career scoring (1,466 points) and recently moved up to seventh in team history in career shot attempts (1,180), is currently on pace to finish with the third-best single-season free throw percentage in program history. He has also scored in double figures in 20 of his last 23 games.
At the three-point arc, Trey Campbell is shooting 40.5% to the tune of 9.1 points a game, while Jacob Hutson posts a shooting clip at 56% with a career-best nine points per game as the Panthers’ key inside man.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE/INFORMATION
Thursday, March 7
#9 Missouri State vs. #8 Murray State – 12 p.m. CT (MVC TV Network/ESPN+)
#12 Valparaiso vs. #5 Belmont – 2:30 p.m. CT (MVC TV Network/ESPN+)
#10 Evansville vs. #7 Illinois State – 6 p.m. CT (MVC TV Network/ESPN+)
#11 UIC vs. #6 Southern Illinois – 8:30 p.m. CT (MVC TV Network/ESPN+)
Friday, March 8
Missouri State/Murray State vs. #1 Indiana State – 12 p.m. CT (MVC TV Network/ESPN+)
Valparaiso/Belmont vs. #4 UNI – 2:30 p.m. CT (MVC TV Network/ESPN+)
Evansville/Illinois State vs. #2 Drake – 6 p.m. CT (MVC TV Network/ESPN+)
UIC/Southern Illinois vs. #3 Bradley – 8:30 p.m. CT (MVC TV Network/ESPN+)
Saturday, March 9
Semifinal #1 – 2:30 p.m. CT (CBS Sports Network)
Semifinal #1 – 5 p.m. CT (CBS Sports Network)
Sunday, March 10
Championship – 1 p.m. CT (CBS)
