University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Drake
UNI men’s basketball clashes with Drake in key MVC matchup on Saturday
1/25/2024 2:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Panthers look to stay hot taking on in-state conference rival in Des Moines.
UNI men's basketball (12-8 / 5-3 MVC) at Drake (16-4 / 7-2 MVC)
- Jan. 27, 2023 | 5 p.m. CT
- Des Moines, Iowa | Knapp Center (7,152)
- ESPN+/Mediacom MC22 (BJSchaben: Play-by-Play / Paul Doerrfield: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI men's basketball renews a longstanding in-state conference rivalry late Saturday afternoon as the Panthers visit Des Moines to take on the Drake Bulldogs in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT at the Knapp Center with live coverage available on the ESPN+ and Mediacom MC22 (check local listing) as well as the Panther Sports Radio Network.
Panther fans and alumni are invited to attend a pregame social prior to the game in downtown Des Moines at Johnny's Hall of Fame at 3 p.m. CT. The event is free and open to the public with food and drinks available. Click HERE for more information.
Riding a season-best five-game winning streak, UNI will look to snap a two-game skid to one of the conference's top teams and the MVC preseason favorite. While the Panthers lead the all-time series against the Bulldogs (51-33), Drake has won six of the last seven meetings, including both matchups last season. Three of the last four matchups between the Panthers and Bulldogs have been decided in overtime, including UNI's last trip to Des Moines last February in a 88-81 double overtime loss.
Saturday's game will be the 85th all-time meeting between Northern Iowa and Drake, extending the fourth-longest running series in program history for the Panthers. UNI will also have the opportunity to inch closer to another program milestone, sitting just two victories shy of the program's 1,400th all-time win. The Panthers recorded their 700th win as a Division I program earlier this month in a win over UIC.
In Tuesday night's victory over Evansville, the Panthers opened each half with an impressive scoring run and closed the game out on defense to hold off Evansville for a 70-63 win at home. After trailing by three points at halftime, UNI took over the rebounding battle and slowed the Purple Aces down offensively from the late portion of the first half. Despite a strong three-point shooting effort by Evansville in the final stanza, the Panthers smothered the Purple Aces on each defensive possession to secure the seven-point win.
Tytan Anderson finished with 15 points and ten rebounds for his first double-double of the season and twelfth of his career, aided by a career-high 11 made free throws, plus a pair of steals and blocks. Nate Heise also notched 15 points with seven boards, a team-high three assists and two steals, while Bowen Born posted a 14-point performance with two assists and a season-high five rebounds. Jacob Hutson and Kyle Pock both recorded seven points, with Trey Campbell scoring six points and both Cole Henry and Michael Duax registering three points each.
Heise leads the Panthers through 20 games with a 14.5 points per game scoring average along with 6.1 rebounds a game and three double-doubles on the year, while Born is recording 14.4 points per contest. Born also leads the MVC in free throw percentage (.919), shooting 55-of-60 from the charity stripe, while also scoring in double digits in 12 of his last 13 games.
Anderson also leads Northern Iowa with 6.2 rebounds a game, and is riding a 52-game streak of scoring at least one point, the longest stretch among active Panthers while maintaining an 11.7 points per game average. At the three-point arc, Campbell is shooting 47.8% to the tune of 8.6 points a game, while Hutson posts a shooting clip at 55.1% with a career-best 8.8 points per game as the Panthers' key inside man.
Landon Wolf seeks to reach 300 career points with his next five points, with Henry needing six points to reach the same milestone. Duax, meanwhile can also surpass 200 career rebounds with his next board
UNI is 82-12 (.872) under head coach Ben Jacobson when scoring 80+ points, and have won 20 of its last 25 games when scoring 80 or more points.
DRAKE BULLDOGS
A top-50 program in the NET rankings, Drake is in the midst of a dead heat for the MVC regular season title at 7-2 in league play. A perfect 10-0 at home this season, the Bulldogs will look to bounce back after a stunning defeat on Wednesday night in an 83-80 double overtime loss at Missouri State.
Led by former Panther Darian DeVries, Drake boasts the MVC's second-best scoring offense at 79.8 points per game and turns the ball over the least among MVC teams with just 9.7 giveaways per game. The Bulldogs are also top-15 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.69).
Tucker DeVries, the reigning Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year and conference Preseason Player of the Year, leads Drake with a 20 points per game average, one of just players in the league averaging 20+ points. Atin Wright is notching 14.5 points, while Kevin Overton has posted a 12.3 points per game average. Graduate forward Darnell Brodie has recorded 11.6 points and leads the MVC with 8.4 rebounds per contest.
