UNI men's basketball hosts Evansville in MVC home opener

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UNI men's basketball vs. Evansville

1 p.m. CT | Dec. 3, 2022
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
ESPN+ (Eric Braley: Play-by-Play / Matt Schneiderman: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- Panther men's basketball welcomes the University of Evansville to town on Saturday afternoon as UNI battles the Purple Aces in its MVC home opener inside the McLeod Center at 1 p.m. CT. The matchup kicks off a four-game homestand for the Panthers, who will be at home for 6 of their next 7 games.

UNI leads the all-time series against the Aces 34-28 with victories in 8 of the last 10 matchups, including a sweep in both games a year ago. The Panthers are 23-11 against Evansville in the Ben Jacobson era (since 2006-07).

UNI PANTHERS
The Panthers look to bounce back following a tough loss on Wednesday night at Bradley to open conference play, 68-53. Despite holding a one-point halftime lead, UNI struggled to stop the Braves on second chance scoring opportunities and in the paint.

Bowen Born led the Panthers with 22 points, setting a new career-high against MVC opponents while also notching a pair of rebounds with two assists. Trey Campbell finished with 8 points, as did Tytan Anderson, who led UNI with 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Michael Duax also shot 3-of-5 from the floor for a 7-point performance with 3 rebounds.

EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES
The Purple Aces begin a new era this season under first year head coach David Ragland, looking to rebuild a program that finished 6-24 a year ago. Picked 12th in the MVC preseason poll, Evansville lost 7 letter winners from last season's roster, including 4 starters.

Kenny Strawbridge Jr., who joined the Aces roster this year after two seasons at Alabama State, leads Evansville with 16.8 points per game, while Yacine Toumi has notched 10 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. Aces veteran Blaise Beauchamp averages 8.6 points a game, as forward Sekou Kalle leads Evansville with 5.5 rebounds per game.

Having dropped 7 of their last 8 games, the Aces, who sport the lowest overall scoring average in the MVC with 59.7 points per game, come to town following an 80-53 home loss to Southern Illinois on Wednesday to begin league play. Antoine Smith Jr. led with 12 points in the Evansville loss with Strawbridge scoring 10 points.

PANTHER NOTES

Tytan Anderson leads the MVC with three double-doubles this season. He also leads the league in defensive rebounds per game (7.3) and second in offensive rebounds per contest (2.6).
The Panthers are 78-9 when scoring 80+ points in a game under Ben Jacobson. UNI is 9-1 in the last 10 such games, as well as 17-3 in the previous 20, 27-3 in the last 30 and 37-3 in the previous 40 such games.
With 323 wins at UNI, head coach Ben Jacobson is 5 wins away from passing Dana Altman for 3rd on the MVC's all-time wins list. Altman, who coached at Creighton from 1994 to 2010, won 327 games during his 16-year tenure in Omaha.
Jacobson is also 9 MVC wins from passing Altman for 2nd on the league's list for most conference only wins. Jacobson enters Saturday's matchup with 174 MVC victories to Altman's 182.
UNI looks to defend its home floor and remain unbeaten on the season inside the McLeod Center. The Panthers hold an all-time record of 187-53 (.779) since the arena opened in Nov. 2006, with a winning home record posted every season.

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