UNI men's basketball draws Illinois State for Arch Madness opener

UNI men's basketball at 2023 MVC Men's Basketball Tournament

12 p.m. CT | March 2, 2023 (First Round)
St. Louis, Mo. | Enterprise Center (16,502)
MVC TV Network [First Round/Quarterfinal] (Scott Warmann: Play-by-Play / Kevin Lehman: Analyst / Kelly Burke: Sideline)
Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The eyes of Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) turn to the Gateway City as the 2023 edition of Arch Madness, the MVC's annual postseason tournament, begins Thursday afternoon at Enterprise Center. UNI, the eight-seed in this year's field, will open up play in the first game of the tournament against ninth-seeded Illinois State at noon on Thursday.

The Panthers will open up Arch Madness facing off against the Redbirds for the third consecutive year after meeting in the quarterfinals last season, and in the first round in 2021. UNI has won 9 straight games against Illinois State and swept the regular season series.

UNI is 2-0 in the first round of the MVC Tournament under head coach Ben Jacobson (2018 vs. Evansville; 2021 vs. Illinois State). The Panthers seek to become just the second team in Arch Madness history to reach the championship game after opening on Thursday. No team in MVC history has won four straight tournament games to win the league's tournament title.

UNI PANTHERS
The Panthers head to St. Louis after a difficult end to the regular season, struggling down the stretch in the final month. UNI rallied from down as many as 17 points, but fell short in the final minutes in its regular season finale to the Belmont Bruins on Sunday at home, 83-75.

The Panther offense jumped out of the gate in a hurry from three-point range as Bowen Born scored the game's first points. The Panthers were able to draw contact and find themselves in the bonus and at the free throw line just 9 minutes into the game, all while establishing an interior attack with Michael Duax. Landon Wolf opened the first half knocking down 4 of his first 8 shots attempts, including three baskets from beyond the arc to lead UNI with 14 first period points, while Trey Campbell established an effective mid-range game. Holding Belmont's leading scorer Ben Sheppard to just 2 points in the opening stanza, the Panthers went into the halftime break with momentum, trailing 38-36.

The Panthers initially struggled to score to begin the second half, as the Bruins quickly extended their lead. Keishawn Davidson and Ja'Kobi Gillespie combined for 23 of Belmont's 45 second period points as UNI fell behind by 17 points with 13 and a half minutes to play. UNI began to turn the tide with under 8 minutes to play as Wolf and Duax led the charge with a 16-2 Panther run to tie the game at 65 points apiece. Despite defending the three-point line and a late surge, turnovers and fouls would hurt the Panthers down the final stretch as Belmont iced the game away shooting 16-of-17 from the free throw line in the second half, sealing the 8-point loss for UNI.

Wolf finished the day registering a new career-high with 21 points, his first 20+ point game of his career on 7-of-13 shooting. Duax ended the game with 12 points and a team-high 8 rebounds in the loss, as Born tallied 11 points. Drew Daniel knocked down a trio of three-point shots to finish with 9 points, while Tytan Anderson and Campbell each finished with 6 points each.

Born has averaged 16.8 points per game in league play this season, and ranks fifth in the MVC in total points scored (516) and fourth in overall average (17.2 points per game).

Born's 10 highest scoring games of his career have all come this season.

30 points at Drake (Feb. 1)
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)
23 points vs. Murray State (Jan. 10)
22 points at Bradley (Nov. 30)

Anderson's 11 double-doubles lead the MVC and rank 28th most in the nation. He also leads the league in rebounds per game (8.5) and defensive rebounds per contest (6.5). Anderson's league-best 263 total rebounds this season are 32nd most in the country. The Eldridge, Iowa native, who was named the captain of the MVC's Most Improved Team on Tuesday, entered the season averaging 1.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

Eight freshmen in the MVC this season have scored 200+ points in their first season on the floor, including three Panthers in Michael Duax (293 points), Trey Campbell (228 points) and MVC All-Bench Team member Landon Wolf (234 points).

Collectively, the Panthers lead the nation in points per game scored by in-state players, as Iowa-born players have accounted for 68.6 points a game.

The Panthers have averaged 15.3 personal fouls per game, third fewest in the MVC this year. As a result, UNI has also averaged 17.4 free throw attempts per game, fourth most in the conference.

ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
Like the Panthers, the Redbirds struggled during the month of February, winning just two of eight games down the stretch. Illinois State was blown out in its final road game last Wednesday night in a 21-point loss at Drake, but rebounded with a 72-53 win at home over Evansville on Sunday.

In their recent win against the Purple Aces, Seneca Knight scored a game-high 26 points as Darius Burford notched 15 points. Kendall Lewis scored 13 points for the Redbirds, while Liam McChesney tallied 8 points.

With a balanced scoring attack throughout the season, Burford has led Illinois State with 12.8 points a game and 27 steals, followed by Knight with 12.1 points per contest. Lewis has scored 10.7 points while leading the Redbirds in rebounding with 7.3 boards per game and 44 steals, ranking second behind UNI's Tytan Anderson for the MVC lead in double-doubles (8). Malachi Poindexter has also averaged 9.5 points a game.

The Redbirds enter Arch Madness with the third highest free throw shooting percentage in the nation, knocking down 79.5% of their shots from the charity stripe this year. Despite being the league's top free throw shooting team, Illinois State has also struggled with fouls, averaging a league-high 18.5 fouls a game. The Redbirds have also turned the ball over more than any other team in the league, coughing up possession 14.8 times per game.

2023 MVC Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule
First Round (Thursday)

Game 1: #8 UNI vs. #9 Illinois State – 12 p.m. CT
Game 2: #5 Indiana State vs. #12 Evansville – 2:30 p.m. CT
Game 3: #7 Murray State vs. #10 Valparaiso – 6 p.m. CT
Game 4: #6 Missouri State vs. #11 UIC – 8:30 p.m. CT

Quarterfinals (Friday)

Game 5: #1 Bradley vs. Game 1 Winner – 12 p.m. CT
Game 6: #4 Belmont vs. Game 2 Winner – 2:30 p.m. CT
Game 7: #2 Drake vs. Game 3 Winner – 6 p.m. CT
Game 8: #3 Southern Illinois vs. Game 4 Winner – 8:30 p.m. CT

Semifinals (Saturday)

Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner – 2:30 p.m. CT
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner – 5 p.m. CT

Championship (Sunday)

Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner – 1 p.m. CT

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