Panther men's basketball opens play at Arch Madness this Friday

UNI men's basketball (2022 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament)

12:06 p.m. CT | March 4
St. Louis, Mo. | Enterprise Center (8,476 – Lower Bowl)
MVC TV Network (Mitch Holtus: Play-by-Play / Kevin Lehman: Analyst)
1540 KXEL: Panther Sports Radio Network (Gary Rima: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI men's basketball begins postseason competition this Friday afternoon as the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) regular season champions open up play at the MVC Tournament at the Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis.

The top-seeded Panthers will play in the first quarterfinal game at 12 p.m. CT against the winner of Thursday night's opening round matchup between the 8th-seeded Illinois State Redbirds (12-19, 5-13 MVC) and the 9th-seeded Indiana State Sycamores (11-19, 4-14 MVC).

UNI heads to St. Louis following a thrilling 102-96 overtime win over Loyola-Chicago at home last Saturday, clinching the program's fourth MVC regular season title, and third outright in school history. Having led for much of the game, the Panthers rallied from down 9 points midway through the second half against the Ramblers, recording 35 made free throws on 42 attempts. Aided by a clutch game-tying jump shot by AJ Green with 28 records to play in regulation, and a critical three-point basket by Bowen Born in the final minute of overtime, the Panthers were able to hold off Loyola in the final second to secure the win and UNI's second regular season conference crown in the last three years.

AJ Green, who was named as the 2022 Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year on Tuesday, finished Saturday's game against the Ramblers with a game-high 32 points and 4 rebounds with a career-high 16 made free throws. Second Team All-MVC honoree Noah Carter recorded his 14th game of 15+ points in league play this season with a 24-point performance. Bowen Born, the league's Sixth Man of the Year, notched a season-high 20 points, while Nate Heise posted 9 points. Tywhon Pickford scored 8 points for UNI, as Austin Phyfe posted 5 points.

The Panthers swept both regular season series with the Redbirds and Sycamores. Against Illinois State, UNI posted a 49-point second half en route to a 79-64 win on Jan. 29 at home, while edging the Redbirds 72-70 on Feb. 15 in Normal. It took the Panthers overtime to defeat Indiana State on Jan. 11 in the McLeod Center, overcoming a 17-point deficit for an exciting 80-74 victory. UNI faced another challenge from the Sycamores one week ago in Terre Haute, pulling away late for an 88-82 win at the Hulman Center.

Illinois State, led by Second Team All-MVC honoree Antonio Reeves, leads the all-time series against the Panthers 44-41, but UNI has won 6 in a row against the Redbirds, the program's longest winning streak against any MVC opponent. A potential matchup with Illinois State would be the 12th time the two teams have faced off in St. Louis, most recently during the opening round of last season's tournament, which UNI won 65-60. The Panthers are 5-6 against the Redbirds all-time at Arch Madness.

Indiana State, led by Third Team All-MVC selection Cooper Neese and All-Newcomer Team honoree Cameron Henry, holds a slight edge in the all-time series against UNI, having won 33 of 64 meetings, with the Panthers having won the previous three. Should UNI match up with the Sycamores in Friday's quarterfinal, it would be just the third time the program's have played one another in the MVC Tournament, with both teams splitting the first two matchups. The Panthers last played Indiana State in St. Louis on March 6, 2009 in the quarterfinal round of Arch Madness, defeating the Sycamores 73-69 on the program's way to clinching the tournament title over Illinois State.

PANTHER NOTES

Since joining the MVC in 1991-92, UNI is 26-23 playing at the MVC Tournament.
The Panthers have been seeded in the top-five 16 times in St. Louis, and 12 times under Ben Jacobson.
UNI has made the semifinal round of Arch Madness ten times since joining the league. Under Ben Jacobson, the Panthers have made the tournament's final four 6 times since Jacobson became head coach in 2006-07, most recently in 2019.
UNI is 75-9 when scoring 80 points or more under head coach Ben Jacobson. The Panthers have also scored 80+ points in 11 games this season, with a 9-2 mark in those games.
Austin Phyfe is 6 points from passing his father Steve 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.
AJ Green is 16 three-point field goals from passing Matt Bohannon (2012-16) as UNI's career leader in made three-pointers. Green has made 253 three-point shots to date.
Tywhon Pickford and Trae Berhow hold two of the top three spots among active MVC players in career rebounds. Pickford is 2nd in the league with 665 career rebounds, with Berhow in 3rd with 623. Drake's Garrett Sturtz ranks 1st with 680 rebounds.

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