University of Northern Iowa
UIC
Panther men’s basketball takes on UIC on Wednesday in league play
1/9/2024 11:25:00 AM | Men's Basketball
UNI looks to catch fire against Flames in mid-week matchup. Tickets now available for purchase.
UNI men's basketball (7-8 / 1-2 MVC) vs. UIC (8-7 / 1-3 MVC)
- Jan. 10, 2023 | 7 p.m. CT
- Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
- ESPN+ (Eric Braley: Play-by-Play / Kevin Lehman: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI men's basketball will close out a brief two-game homestand on Wednesday night as the Panthers face off with the UIC Flames in the McLeod Center.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network. Tickets are available for purchase online at UNIpanthers.com/tickets, or by calling the ticket office directly at 319-273-4849. College students, as well as middle and high school students can receive a free ticket by presenting their school ID at the gate.
Hosting the Flames for the first time as Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) opponents and the first time since the 2013 CIT Tournament, the Panthers look to remain unbeaten against UIC since the Flames joined the league last season. UNI defeated UIC in Chicago last January in its first conference matchup with the Flames by a score of 78-72. The Panthers lead the all-time series by a narrow 12-11 margin, including wins in the previous two games.
Northern Iowa will look to record a milestone win on Sunday, as the Panthers sit just one victory shy of the team's 700th win as a Division I program. UNI is also seven wins shy of earning its 1,400th all-time victory.
The Panthers will look to bounce back after a tough 77-66 loss to league-leading Indiana State on Sunday, which snapped a four-game win streak for the purple and gold. UNI struggled to slow the Sycamores at the three-point line to fall behind by double-digits, but brought a strong defensive mindset to the second half, gradually chipping away at Indiana State's lead with solid ball control and ten made free throws on 14 attempts.
Bowen Born finished the afternoon with a game-high 27 points on eight-of-16 shooting and ten made free throws, while Jacob Hutson posted a 14-point performance with six rebounds. Tytan Anderson led the Panthers with seven rebounds to complement a seven-point game and season-highs in steals (3) and blocks (2), as Trey Campbell finished with seven points and four boards. Nate Heise closed the game with six points.
Born leads the Panthers through 15 games with a 15-point per game average shooting 41.3% from the field and 97.6% from the free throw line, the third-best clip in the nation. Heise has notched 13.8 point a game and 5.6 rebounds with a team-high 38 assists and nine blocks, while Anderson has recorded 11.9 points with a team-leading 6.7 rebounding average per game. Hutson, who surpassed 400 career points against Indiana State, is averaging 10.3 points a game, the best single-season average of his career.
UNI is 81-12 (.870) under head coach Ben Jacobson when scoring 80+ points, and have won 19 of its last 24 games when scoring 80 or more points. Jacobson also continues his march towards MVC history, sitting three MVC wins shy of tying former Oklahoma State coach Henry P. Iba for the league record for most conference only victories. Jacobson, the second-winningest coach in conference history with 342, has won 184 games in league play.
Anderson enters Wednesday's contest on a 47-game scoring streak with at least one point scored, while Born carries the program's third-highest career free throw percentage into the game against the Rockets (85.9%). Landon Wolf seeks to reach 300 career points with his next 11 points, while Huston can reach 400 career points with his next ten points scored
UIC FLAMES
Making their first trip to Cedar Falls in 11 years, the Flames come to town after a narrow six-point win at Valparaiso on Sunday. UIC went 7-4 in the non-conference portion of the schedule, but have dropped three of its last four contests, including three of its first four MVC games.
UIC was picked tenth in this year's MVC preseason poll, with senior guard Toby Okani being selected to the All-MVC Preseason Third Team. The Flames bolster one of the MVC's top defenses, ranking third in Division I with 6.5 blocks per game, a top-20 shooting defense (38.8%), a stifling three-point defense (26.5%) and the league's second-best scoring defense (64.4).
Isaiah Rivera leads UIC with a 15.5 points per game scoring average, while Toby Okani has scored 12.5 points a game with a team-high 7.4 rebounds, plus a league high 39 blocks. CJ Jones has dished out a team-best 38 assists.
