UNI men's basketball seeks key road win at Southern Illinois

UNI men's basketball at Southern Illinois

7 p.m. CT | Jan. 15
Carbondale, Ill. | Banterra Center (8,284)
ESPN+ (Connor Onion: Play-by-Play / Mike Trude: Analyst)
1540 KXEL: Panther Sports Radio Network (Gary Rima: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI men's basketball returns to the road on Saturday night as the Panthers travel to Carbondale to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) action.

The Panthers look to continue an unbeaten run to start 2022 after rallying to defeat Indiana State 80-74 in overtime on Tuesday night at home. Trailing by 17 points in the second half, UNI overcame the second largest deficit of the season to improve to 4-1 in league play. Noah Carter notched a team-high 17 points for the Panthers in the come from behind victory, marking his fifth consecutive conference game of at least 15 points scored. AJ Green recorded 16 points, while Bowen Born scored a season-high 14 points, along with 5 assists. Trae Berhow posted 7 points and a team-high 8 rebounds, as Austin Phyfe blocked a season-high 2 shot attempts.

Southern Illinois (9-6, 2-1 MVC) returns to the Banterra Center for their MVC home opener following a 5-point loss on Wednesday night at Missouri State. All three of the Salukis' conference games this season have been decided by 5 points or less, including a 2-point victory at Evansville back in December, and a 3-point win at Valparaiso. Led by former SIU standout Bryan Mullins in his 3rd season as head coach, the Salukis were picked 5th in the MVC preseason poll with a pair of all-conference preseason selections in Marcus Domask and Lance Jones.

Domask, a Second Team All-MVC preseason honoree, leads Southern Illinois with 16 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. The junior forward also leads the Salukis with 11 blocked shots and averages a league-high 36 minutes a game. Jones, who was selected to the Third Team All-MVC list, boasts a 14.1 scoring average in 13 games this season and leads SIU with 25 total steals, second most in the MVC. From beyond the three-point arc, Steven Verplancken Jr. has shot a team-high 47.8% from distance, averaging 2.1 three-point baskets per game

UNI and Southern Illinois split their two-game regular season doubleheader last season in Carbondale. The Panthers won the first game 74-62, while the Salukis edged UNI by 3 points the following day. Bowen Born led the Panthers with 33 combined points between the two games, including 17 in UNI's opening win. The Salukis lead the all-time series 38-33, where the home team has historically been favored. Since the first meeting between the two programs during the 1964-65 season, the home team has won 73.4% of the matchups.

PANTHER NOTES

UNI has shot 50% or better from the field in 3 of the last 4 games.
The Panthers are unbeaten when leading at halftime this season, as well as when shooting 50% or better from the floor (5-0).
The Panthers' four game winning streak is the longest since January/February 2020.
The Panthers are averaging 81.8 points per game in league play, 10.2 more points than against non-conference opponents (71.6).
UNI has shot 50.3% from the floor in five games against the MVC. The Panthers have shot 44.5% in non-conference play.
UNI is 72-8 under Ben Jacobson when scoring 80+ points. This season the Panthers are 3-0 when scoring over 90 points, and 6-0 when reaching at least 80 points.
AJ Green is 52 points from joining the program's 1,500 career point club. With 1,448 points as a Panther, Green ranks 9th in school history in scoring.
Austin Phyfe is 60 points from passing his father, Steve Phyfe, in career points scored for the Panthers. Steve Phyfe, who played at UNI from 1987-90 and was part of the program's first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament team in 1990, scored 912 career points for the Panthers, ranking 55th in program history.
Noah Carter, who cracked UNI's top 100 all-time scoring list with a 17-point game against Indiana State, is 9 points from 600 in his career.

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