Panthers To Play West Virginia in Cancun Challenge

THIS WEEKS ACTION

Cancun Challenge
UNI vs West Virginia | Tuesday, November 26 | 6:30 PM | Hard Rock Hotel

UNI vs South Carolina/Wichita State | Wednesday, November 27 | 5 PM/7:30 PM | Hard Rock Hotel

THE SERIES
The Panthers and Mountaineers will meet for the first time at the Cancun Challenge. The Panthers will play either the South Carolina Gamecocks or the Wichita State Shockers. The Panthers and Gamecocks have never played while the possible matchup with Wichita State would see the first game between the Shockers and Panthers since the 2016-17 season. The Panthers and Shockers would meet up for the 55th time with the Panthers holding a 29-25 series lead.

THE MOUNTAINEERS
• WVU is 267-177 all-time in tournaments. WVU's most recent tournament championship was the AdvoCare Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in 2017. WVU won the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in 2014 and Las Vegas Classic in 2011.

• With a win at Oklahoma State on Dec. 29, 2017, Bob Huggins moved past Jim Phelan on the NCAA Division I winningest coaches list. Huggins' record now stands at 863-362 in his 37th season as a head coach. He needs 13 more victories to tie Adolph Rupp for seventh place all-time.

• Huggins is the fourth-winningest active Division I coach behind Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams.

• West Virginia is 124-33 in non-conference regular-season games under Bob Huggins, including a 72-6 mark at home.

• Sophomore forward Derek Culver was named to the All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention Team, while freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe was named the Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year.

• Tshiebwe is the second McDonald's All-American to enroll as a freshman at WVU (Chris Brooks, 1986). He is the third McDonald's All-American to play at WVU, joining Brooks and Ohio State transfer Greg Simpson in 1996.

• Culver was named to the 20-man preseason Kareem Abdul Jabbar Award Watch List.

• Last year, Culver was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team and the All-Big 12 Freshman Team (unanimous selection).

THE PANTHERS
• UNI moves to 6-0 on the season after defeating Cornell College 88-66. The 6-0 start is the first since the 2014-15 season.

• 2019-20 marks the 2nd time the Panthers have started the season 6-0 in the Ben Jacobson era.

•The Panthers return to the Cancun Challenge with a 2-0 record, defeating Northern Colorado and UT Martin in the stateside games.

• The last time the Panthers played in the Cancun Challenge was during the 2014-15 season where they went 4-0, defeating Virginia Tech and Northwestern at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.

•Trae Berhow finished with 8 three-pointers against UT Martin, tying the UNI single-game record and breaking the McLeod Center record by 1. He followed it up by going 4-4 from beyond the arc against Cornell.

• Berhow is now shooting 48% (16-33) from beyond the arc this season, while Isaiah Brown leads the team in three-point percentage, shooting 58% (10-17).

• AJ Green was named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List. The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player.

• The Panthers return four MVC award winners from last year's team.

    • AJ Green: All-Freshman, All-Newcomer, Third Team All-MVC, Freshman of the Year.
    • Spencer Haldeman: MVC Sixth Man of the Year.
    • Isaiah Brown: All-Defensive Team
    •Luke McDonnell: Most Improved Team

• The Panthers were selected to finish 3rd in the MVC Preseason Poll.

• Sophomore, AJ Green, was named Preseason First Team All-MVC. The lone Panther to make the preseason list.

• Ben Jacobson enters the season ranked fifth all-time in MVC coaching victories with 272. Jacobson also ranks fifth in the league record book for MVC-only wins with 139 triumphs.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Panthers To Play West Virginia in Cancun Challenge

Players Mentioned

Trae Berhow

Isaiah Brown

AJ Green

Spencer Haldeman

Luke McDonnell

Upcoming Events

University of Northern Iowa Athletics