UNI to Face No. 5 Villanova for Championship

Friday, November 24

Nassau, Bahamas

11 a.m.

University of Northern Iowa

Villanova

UNI to Face No. 5 Villanova for Championship

11/23/2017 6:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

UNI-notes-villanova-2017-1

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UNI (5-1) vs. #5 Villanova (5-0)
Fri., Nov. 24, 2017 • 11 a.m.
Nassau, Bahamas (Paradise Island)

VIDEO | AUDIO

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television
ESPN2
Play-by-Play: Karl Ravech
Analyst: Dick Vitale

Radio, TuneIn App
Panther Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Eric Braley
Analyst: Kevin Boyle
Flagship Station - KXEL 1540-AM
On the Web - www.UNIPanthers.com

Stats
UNI.Statbroadcast.com

SERIES NOTES
All-Times Series: First Meeting
Last Meeting: N/A
• Villanova advanced to the title game with wins over Western Kentucky (66-58) and Tennessee (85-76)

UNI MEN'S BASKETBALL STORYLINES
• The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team will play for the championship on Friday in the title game of 2017 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. UNI will match up against No. 5-ranked Villanova (5-0 overall).

• UNI head coach Ben Jacobson is 3-2 against top-five ranked foes. Jacobson has led the Panthers to wins over No. 1 Kansas (69-67 - 3/20/2010), No. 1 North Carolina (71-67 - 11/21/2015) and No. 5 Iowa State (81-79 - 12/19/2015).

• During UNI's five-game win streak the Panthers have limited the opposition to 50.0 points per game and 31.7 percent field goal shooting.

• UNI has also enjoyed a commanding rebounding lead during its five-game win streak. The Panthers have outrebounded the opposition by plus-10.8 per game over the last five contests.

• Freshman guard Tywhon Pickford has made at least one 3-pointer in each of the six Panther games this season. Pickford is averaging 11.2 points per game and 11.2 rebounds per game.

• Pickford tallied a pair of career highs in Thursday's 64-60 win over North Carolina State. Pickford scored 18 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the triumph over the Wolfpack. His 18 rebounds are the most for a UNI player since David Gruber grabbed 18 boards vs. Montana on Nov. 22, 2002.

UNI MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES VS. VILLANOVA

PANTHERS LOOK TO CLAIM TITLE AT BATTLE4ATLANTIS
The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team will play for the championship on Friday in the title game of 2017 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament.
   UNI will match up against No. 5-ranked Villanova (5-0 overall) at 11 a.m.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday's game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
   Karl Ravech (play-by-play) and Dick Vitale (analyst) will call the contest.

VILLANOVA WILDCATS
The Villanova Wildcats return Phil Booth, Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson from a unit that finished the 2016-17 regular season as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll. VU finished with a 32-4 record last season.
   Villanova captured the 2016 NCAA Division I championship before falling to Wisconsin in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
   Villanova is under the direction of head coach Jay Wright.

ALL-TIME SERIES
UNI and Villanova will be meeting for the first time.

LAST TWO NCAA CHAMPS
UNI will have faced the past two NCAA champions in the first seven games of the 2017-18 season. UNI began the season by taking on defending national champion North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
   UNI will take on Villanova in the title game of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Wildcats captured the 2016 NCAA national title.

JAKE IS 3-2 VS. TOP-5 TEAMS
UNI head coach Ben Jacobson is 3-2 against top-five ranked foes.
   Jacobson has led the Panthers to wins over No. 1 Kansas (69-67 - 3/20/2010), No. 1 North Carolina (71-67 - 11/21/2015) and No. 5 Iowa State (81-79 - 12/19/2015).

5-1 START TO THE SEASON
UNI is off to a 5-1 start to the season. UNI's last 5-1 start to a year came in the 2015-16 campaign.

DEFENSE, REBOUNDING KEYED FIVE-GAME WIN STREAK
UNI has won five games in a row on the strength of its defense and rebounding.
   The Panthers have limited the opposition to 50.0 points per game and 31.7 percent field goal shooting.
   UNI has also enjoyed a commanding rebounding lead during its five-game win streak. The Panthers have outrebounded the opposition by plus-10.8 per game over the last five contests.

TYWHON CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
UNI freshman guard Tywhon Pickford is averaging a double-double (11.2 ppg, 11.2 rpg).
   Pickford put on another tremendous display Thursday as he tallied career-highs in points (18) and rebounds (18) in a 64-60 win over North Carolina State.
   Pickford is the only UNI Panther to have drained at least one 3-pointer in each of the team's first six contests this season.

JUWAN FINDS THE ZONE
UNI sophomore point guard Juwan McCloud has scored in double figures in four games this season after posting double-figure scoring games four times all of last year.
   McCloud has drained 10 three-pointers this season after making nine three-pointers during the 2016-17 season.

SPENCE OFF THE BENCH
UNI sophomore guard Spencer Haldeman sparked the Panther victory over SMU by draining four 3-pointers and scoring 15 points off the bench.
   Haldeman has made 11-of-25 three-pointers this season and is averaging 9.4 points per game off the bench.

COUNTLESS 3-POINT BOMBERS
Through six games, UNI has five players who have made at least five 3-pointers this season.
   Spencer Haldeman (11), Juwan McCloud (10), Tywhon Pickford (10), Isaiah Brown (9) and Klint Carlson (5) have all made at least five shots from 3-point land this season.
   UNI is averaging 8.5 made 3-pointers per game.

UNI'S 3-POINT STREAK
UNI has made at least one 3-pointer in 567 straight games – the longest active streak in the Missouri Valley Conference.
   The last time UNI failed to make a 3-point basket came Feb. 3, 2000, vs. Southern Illinois in a 72-58 Panther victory in the UNI-Dome. UNI went 0-for-4 from 3-point land vs. the Salukis in that contest.

UNI VS. RANKED TEAMS
UNI has registered 17 wins over ranked Division I opponents and 14 of those wins have come since Ben Jacobson joined the UNI coaching staff in the 2001-02 season.
   Since the 1979-80 season, UNI is 17-39 vs. ranked foes.
   The Panthers have posted two road wins over ranked foes in program history and both times it came in Wichita, Kansas. UNI knocked off No. 25 Wichita State (53-50 - Feb. 13, 2016) and No. 16 Wichita State (63-59 (Dec. 30, 2006).
   UNI has three neutral-court wins over ranked foes, with two of those coming in 1990 and 2010 NCAA tournaments.
   UNI is 2-0 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents. UNI secured a 71-67 win over North Carolina in the McLeod Center on Nov. 21, 2015. The Panthers also recorded a 69-67 win over No. 1 Kansas in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
   UNI has posted a mark of 3-2 in its last five matchups against top-five ranked foes.

UNI vs. Ranked Opponents (since 1979-80)
#9   North Carolina   L, 86-69 (A) - 11/10/17
#8   North Carolina   L, 85-42 (A) - 12/21/16
#9    Xavier   L, 64-42 (A) - 11/26/16
#11   Xavier   L, 67-59 (N) - 11/20/16
#15   Texas A&M   L, 92-88 2ot (N) - 3/20/16
#25   Wichita State   W, 53-50 (A) - 2/13/16
#5   Iowa State   W, 81-79 (N) - 12/19/15
#1   North Carolina   W, 71-67 (H) - 11/21/15
#17   Louisville   L, 66-53 (N) - 3/22/15
#11   Wichita State   L, 74-60 (A) - 2/28/15
#12   Wichita State   W, 70-54 (H) - 1/31/15
#4   Wichita State   L, 82-73 (H) - 2/8/14
#8   Wichita State   L, 67-53 (A) - 1/5/14
#17   Iowa State   L, 91-82 OT (N) - 12/7/13
#15   Wichita State   W, 57-52 (H) - 2/2/13
#12   Creighton   L, 79-68 (A) - 1/15/13
#21   UNLV   L, 73-59 (A) - 12/19/12
#19   Memphis   L, 52-47 (N) - 11/24/12
#2   Louisville   L, 51-46 (N) - 11/22/12
#13   Creighton   W, 65-62 (H) - 2/4/12
#23   Creighton   L, 63-60 (A) - 1/10/12
#10   Syracuse   L, 68-46 (A) - 11/12/10
#13   Michigan State   L, 59-52 (N) - 3/26/10
#1   Kansas   W, 69-67 (N) - 3/20/10
#15   Marquette   L, 73-43 (N) - 11/28/08
#14   Drake   L, 65-55 (H) - 2/16/08
#22   Drake   L, 58-54 (A) - 1/26/08
#11   Nevada   L, 79-64 (A) - 2/17/07
#16   Wichita State   W, 63-59 (A) - 12/30/06
#17   Washington   L, 70-61 (A) - 11/14/06
#23   Georgetown   L, 54-49 (N) - 3/17/06
#24   Bucknell   W, 65-61 (H) - 2/18/06
#12   Iowa   W, 67-63 (H) - 12/6/05
#20   Wisconsin   L, 57-52 (N) - 3/18/05
#17   Iowa   L, 76-73 (A) - 12/7/05
#14   Georgia Tech   L, 65-60 (N) - 3/19/04
#15   Southern Illinois   W, 68-52 (H) - 3/1/04
#20   Creighton   W, 82-73 (H) - 1/14/04
#24    Iowa   W, 77-66 (H) - 12/9/03
#13   Creighton   L, 84-75 (H) - 2/4/03
#11   Iowa   W, 78-76 (H) - 12/4/01
#17   Alabama   L, 64-56 (N) - 12/20/00
#10   Iowa   W, 84-78 (H) - 12/9/97
#12   Iowa   L, 78-73 (H) - 12/5/95
#11   Iowa State   L, 81-62 (H) - 1/25/95
#8   Iowa   L, 64-44 (A) - 12/8/92
#16   Iowa   L, 108-85 (H) - 12/19/91
#20   Minnesota   L, 81-78 (N) - 3/18/90
#11   Missouri   W, 74-71 (N) - 3/16/90
#20   Iowa   W, 77-74 (H) - 1/3/90
#3   Georgetown   L, 83-49 (N) - 12/29/89
#5   Iowa   L, 95-76 (A) - 12/6/88
#14   Missouri   L, 91-62 (A) - 1/12/83
#6   Iowa   L, 84-53 (A) - 12/21/81
#14   Iowa   L, 86-52 (A) - 12/30/80
#20   Iowa   L, 78-46 (A) - 12/6/79
NOTE: Associated Press poll used

UNI's Record vs. Ranked Opponents
Overall   Home   Away   Neutral
17-39   12-6   2-19   3-14

UNI INKS TOP-100 RECRUIT GREEN
University of Northern Iowa head men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson has announced the signing of consensus top-100 recruit A.J. Green to a National Letter-of-Intent to play for the Panthers beginning in the 2018-19 season.
   Green (6'4", 175 lbs., Guard – Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls HS) is ranked among the top-100 recruits by ESPN (No. 74), 247 (No. 77), Scout (No. 77) and Rivals (No. 88). He is a four-star recruit and a first-team all-state pick by the Iowa Newspaper Association in both 2016 and 2017.
   "A.J. has a tremendous work ethic and drive to be the absolute best. It has been a lot of fun watching him work and grow as player over the course of all these years," Jacobson said. "In A.J., we are getting a player who knows our program, comes in with lofty goals and has made himself one of the best players in the country. Most importantly we are getting a terrific young guy. This is an exciting day for our basketball family and for Panther Nation as A.J. officially becomes a Panther."
   Green has scored 1,120 points entering his senior season at Cedar Falls High School. Green averaged 21.5 points per game and grabbed 4.2 rebounds per game, while he shot 47.4 percent from the floor (43.4 – 3-point range) as a junior. He averaged 17.8 points per game and made 44 percent of his three-point shots as a sophomore. Green scored 186 points and averaged 8.0 points per game as a freshman.
   Green played AAU basketball for the Iowa Barnstormers. He is the son of Kyle and Michele Green.