UNI men's basketball meets Murray State for the first time on Tuesday night

UNI men's basketball vs. Murray State

7 p.m. CT | Jan. 10, 2023
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
PSN/ESPN+ (Eric Braley: Play-by-Play / Kevin Lehman: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI men's basketball faces a pair of first opponents this week beginning on Tuesday night as the Panthers welcome the Murray State Racers to the McLeod Center in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) action.

Tuesday's game will be the lone meeting between the Panthers and Racers this season. Murray State is the third team on UNI's schedule this year that played in the NCAA Tournament last March.

UNI PANTHERS
The Panthers stifled the MVC's second-best scoring defense in their previous outing against Southern Illinois as UNI defeated the Salukis 69-57 in front of a home crowd on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers jumped out to a quick lead and never let go despite a strong performance inside the paint by Southern Illinois. UNI was able to capitalize on 13-of-19 free throw attempts and key missed shots by the Salukis to hold off SIU's second half momentum and secure a third straight victory, the longest winning streak of the season. UNI has not allowed SIU to score 60 points in Cedar Falls since 2008.

Bowen Born finished with a game-high 27 points to surpass 800 career points, while Tytan Anderson recorded his 7th double-double of the season with a final stat line of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Landon Wolf dropped 8 points, tying his career-high with 3 steals in the UNI victory, as Cole Henry scored 4 of his 7 points in the second half with a career-high 12 rebounds. Michael Duax and Trey Campbell each scored 6 points for the Panthers with James Betz finishing with 5 points.

Born leads the MVC with a 19.8 points per game scoring average. The eight highest scoring games of his career have come in the last 12 games.

30 points vs. Northern Illinois (Nov. 26)
29 points vs. Evansville (Dec. 3)
27 points vs. Southern Illinois (Jan. 7)
27 points vs. Towson (Dec. 17)
27 points vs. Toledo (Dec. 6)
25 points at Illinois State (Dec. 31)
23 points vs. Missouri State (Dec. 28)
22 points at Bradley (Nov. 30)

In addition to leading the MVC with 7 double-doubles and ranking 14th in the nation, Anderson leads the MVC in rebounds per game (9.2) and defensive rebounds a game (6.8). He also sits 3rd in the conference in offensive boards per contest (2.4).

The Panthers have averaged an MVC-low 14.9 personal fouls per game. As a result, UNI has also averaged 17.6 free throw attempts per game, 4th most in the conference.

Head coach Ben Jacobson is also chasing MVC history with 178 conference only wins, 3rd most in league history. Jacobson is 4 wins shy of passing former Creighton coach Dana Altman for 2nd all-time in MVC history with 182 conference wins.

MURRAY STATE RACERS
A year removed from tying a program record with 31 wins with Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearance, the Racers are out to a 9-7 start in their first season in the MVC with a 4-2 mark in conference play. Murray State comes to town following an 82-64 loss at Drake on Saturday in a game where the Racers were outscored 16-2 on second chance scoring opportunities.

The Racers were picked 8th in the MVC's preseason poll with guard Rob Perry named Preseason Third Team All-MVC. UNI fans will be familiar with Murray State's head coach on the sidelines as former Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm makes his first trip to the McLeod Center to take on the Panthers for the third time in his career. Prohm, who coached the Cyclones from 2015-21, went 1-1 against UNI in his 6 seasons in Ames.

Murrays State is highly effective in the fast break, scoring a league-best 12.1 points a game in transition. Three Racers are averaging double-digit scoring figures led by Perry's 14.9 points per game. Jamari Smith has notched 12.4 points a game, while JaCobi Wood has tallied 11.8 points per contest. Wood also leads the MVC with 4.6 assists per game, while DJ Burns leads Murray State with 7.6 rebounds a game.

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