UNI Men's Basketball Host Peacocks

Full Game Notes

This Week's Action:

Thursday, November 1 – Cedar Falls, Iowa (McLeod Center)
UNI vs Upper Iowa University |Stats|

• UNI will take on the Peacocks of Upper Iowa University in an exhibition game scheduled for a 7 p.m. start on Thursday, November 1.

• The Panthers return MVC All-Newcomer Tywhon Pickford for his sophomore year. Pickford averaged 9.1 PPG and 7.8 RPG as a freshman.

• MVC All-Bench Team member Wyatt Lohaus is back for his senior season. Lohaus averaged 9.3 PPG in the 24 games he played in 2017-18.

• UNI's new look offensively seemed to work out in Sunday's 110-69 victory over Wartburg.

• The 110 point game was the first for the Panthers since the 2012-13 season when they defeated Wartburg 103-50.

• The Panthers hold the series edge over the Peacocks at 29-23-7.

• UNI has been picked to finish fifth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll. Loyola, coming off a Final Four finish to the 2017-18 season, was picked to finish first.

•Head coach Ben Jacobson enters his 13th season with the Panthers and has a 250-150 all-time record. Coach Jacobson is currently sixth in all-time wins of a Missouri Valley coach and sixth all-time in Missouri Valley only wins with 130 victories.

UNI NEWS

UNI Men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson begins his 13th season as head coach and the Panthers will look much different in 2018-19 as the previous season. Four newcomers, including an ESPN Top-100 recruit in freshmen AJ Green, NJCAA DII Player of the year Tray Croft, Pepperdine Trae Berhow and big man Shandon Goldman all look to contribute in 2018-19.

Two starters return in sophomore Tywhon Pickford and junior Isaiah Brown return, but UNI lost top two leading scorers Bennett Koch and Clint Carlson. Seven other lettermen return, including MVC All-Bench honoree Wyatt Lohaus and key contributor Spencer Haldeman. Pickford is the leading returning scorer at 292 points. Lohaus only played in 24 games due to injury but scored 222 points.

The veteran coaching staff returns led by Jacobson. He has a career record of 250-150, four trips to the NCAA tournament and seven post-season trips altogether.

UNI went 16-16 a season ago with a 7-11 record in Missouri Valley Conference play. The season started with a bang. UNI opened 8-2 with the only losses coming on the road against North Carolina and in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship against Villanova. The Panthers then lost seven straight games and couldn't get back on track until it was too late. The Panthers won four of their last six games but lost to Loyola 54-50 in the second round of the State Farm MVC Tournament in St. Louis.

The recruiting class only included one freshman, but he will look to make an impact right away. AJ Green, son of Associate Head Coach Kyle Green, is a consensus top-100 pick that had recruiting looks from Power-5 Conference schools around the Midwest. He decided to stay home and play for the Panthers.

Pepperdine transfer Trae Berhow received a waiver from the NCAA and will play right away for UNI. He averaged 10.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in 30.5 minutes and started 28 of his 30 games for Pepperdine last season.

The Panthers will participate in the Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands this season, opening with Penn. The tournament also includes Oregon State, Missouri, Kansas State and more.

UPPER IOWA PEACOCKS

Upper Iowa finished the 2017-18 season with a 17-15 mark while going 10-12 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

The Peacocks return two major contributors from last season's team in sophomore Joe Smoldt and senior Manachiso Okonkwo as well as senior Quentin Blaue.

Joe Smolt was a sweet surprise for Peacock fans last season, averaging 13.4 points per game as a freshman. The talented guard added 66 assists as well.

Senior Manachiso Okonkwa was a transfer from John Wood Community College and made an immediate impact, averaging 8.7 points per game while bringing in 207 rebounds a year ago.

SERIES HISTORY

UNI holds the series edge with the Peacocks at 29-23-7. The series dates back to UNI's opening season in 1905-06. The Panthers managed to defeat the Peacocks 28-24 and finished the 1904-05 season at 4-4. The two teams played for the second time during the 1913-14 season with Upper Iowa taking the game with a final score of 29-25.

FOLLOW ALONG

Thursday's game will not be broadcast or have radio coverage but fans can follow along on social media by following @UNImbb on twitter. Live stats will be provided and can be found at www.unipanthers.com.

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Players Mentioned

Trae Berhow

Isaiah Brown

Tray Croft

Shandon Goldman

AJ Green

Spencer Haldeman

Bennett Koch

Wyatt Lohaus

Tywhon Pickford

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