Panther men's basketball heads to Missouri State for key MVC matchup

UNI men's basketball at Missouri State

5 p.m. CT | Jan. 8
Springfield, Mo. | JQH Arena (11,000)
CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan: Play-by-Play / Tim Doyle: Analyst)
1540 KXEL: Panther Sports Radio Network (Gary Rima: Play-by-Play)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI men's basketball seeks a third conference consecutive win this weekend as the Panthers visit the Missouri State Bears on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. in Springfield.

The Panthers take the trip south following an impressive 92-65 win over the Valparaiso Beacons on Wednesday night at the McLeod Center. UNI shot a season-high 59% from the field to post a second consecutive win of 20 or more points for the first time since the end of the 2019-20 regular season. The Panther bench outscored Valparaiso 29-10 and dominated inside, outpacing the Beacons 48-14 in points in the paint. Noah Carter tied his season-high with 20 points, and Trae Berhow knocked down five baskets from beyond the arc in a 17-point performance. Tytan Anderson set a new career-high with 12 points, with Nate Heise scoring 10 points.

Missouri State (9-6) returns to JQH Arena after the Bears defeated Bradley in Peoria on Wednesday, thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer by Isiaih Mosley at the buzzer. The Bears enter Saturday's matchup tied with UNI for third in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) standings at 2-1 in league play.

Picked fourth in the league's preseason poll, Missouri State brings a pair of First Team All-MVC preseason selections into Saturday's game in Mosley and Gaige Prim. The MVC's second leading scorer with 17 points per game, Mosley has shot 47.7% from the floor this season and leads the Bears at the charity stripe with a team-high 92.3% free throw percentage. Prim ranks second in scoring for Missouri State with 14.3 points a game, while also leading the way with 8.4 rebounds through the first 16 games of the season. The Bears also post another pair of key shooters in Jaylen Minnett, a key 3-pointer shooter averaging 11.4 points per game, and Ja'Monta Black, who is tied with Minnett for the team lead in made 3-pointers (43).

Winners of their last five games at home, Missouri State leads the MVC in 3-point field goal attempts, free throw percentage and total assists, and holds the second-best shooting percentage in the league at 48.3%, trailing only Loyola-Chicago. The Bears' shooting percentages from the floor and the free throw line both rank in the top 30 in the nation.

While Missouri State leads the all-time series 45-37, the Panthers have won six of the last seven overall meetings. UNI is also 9-3 at JQH Arena since the venue opened back in 2008.

PANTHER NOTES

The Panthers seek a 3-1 start to league play for the second time in the last three seasons. UNI last started 3-1 in MVC play in 2019-20, finishing 14-4 as the conference's regular season champion.
Head coach Ben Jacobson is two conference wins from passing former Creighton/Saint Louis coach Eddie Hickey as the third winningest MVC coach in conference games in league history. Jacobson currently leads all active MVC head coaches with 162 wins in conference play.
UNI is undefeated when shooting 50% or better from the floor (4-0), as well as when leading at halftime.
The Panthers are 3-0 when the offense scores 90 points or more, as well as 5-0 when scoring 80 points or more.
AJ Green leads all active MVC players in career 3-pointers with 211. Drake's DJ Wilkins in second with 204.
Tywhon Pickford ranks first among active MVC rebounders with 612. Trae Berhow ranks third in the league with 545 career boards, while Austin Phyfe in fourth with 532.
AJ Green is four points passing Robbie Sievering (1998-02) for ninth on the program's all-time scoring list.
Austin Phyfe is 68 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, scored 912 career points for the Panthers, ranking 55th in program history.

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