University of Northern Iowa
Illinois State
UNI men’s hoops set to square off with Illinois State on Saturday night
1/10/2025 2:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Panthers have won ten of last 11 matchups with the Redbirds, looking to snap two-game skid.
UNI men's basketball (9-7 / 3-2 MVC) at Illinois State (10-6 / 2-3 MVC)
- 6 p.m. CT | Jan. 11, 2025
- Normal, Ill. | CEFCU Arena (10,200)
- ESPN+ (Telly Hughes: Play-by-Play / Rich Zvosec: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
- LIVE STATS
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- Riding a two-game skid, the UNI men's basketball team will look to keep pace with the top of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) on Saturday night as the Panthers take on the Illinois State Redbirds on the road.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at CEFCU Arena in Normal with live coverage on the ESPN+, as well as the Panther Sports Radio Network with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz and Kevin Boyle on the call.
The longest running series in program history for the Panthers, UNI and Illinois State are all even at 45 wins a piece heading into Saturday's matchup. Northern Iowa has won ten of the last 11 meetings, including ten in a row prior to the Redbirds' 81-73 win at home over the Panthers last February.
Despite a two-game losing streak, UNI looks to ride a hot shooting hand, ranking second in all of Division I with a 51.6% shooting clip. UNI is also 15th nationally in effective field goal percentage (58%). Northern Iowa has shot over 50% in nine of its 16 games this year.
The Panthers, currently sitting in a nine-way tie for second place in the MVC standings, will look to bounce back and keep pace with the first-place Bradley Braves in the standings after a narrow 71-68 home loss to Murray State on Wednesday. After trailing by as many as 11 points, UNI closed the gap late on the Racers and briefly took the lead before securing a late jump ball and icing the game at the free throw line to hand the Panthers a three-point loss.
Trey Campbell finished the night with a game-high 17 points and matched his season-high with three steals, while Tytan Anderson tallied 15 points and four rebounds. Leon Bond III posted a 13-point, three rebound performance as Ben Schwieger notched 12 points and three rebounds. Will Hornseth led UNI on the boards with a game-high six rebounds along with four points in his first collegiate start.
Anderson, the MVC's leader in made free throws (73) and attempts (103) who looks to continue climbing the program's top-ten all-time steals list, leads UNI with 14.7 points per game and a team-high 6.2 rebounds a game on 56.9% shooting. Anderson will also be continuing his chase to become just the fourth player in program history to record 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 200 assists in a UNI career, looking to join Seth Tuttle (2011-15), Eric Coleman (2004-08) and Don Lemons (1975-79).
Head coach Ben Jacobson also sits just two wins shy of becoming the first coach in MVC history to reach 200 conference only wins. Jacobson, the winningest coach in program history and second-winningest coach in the league's 118 year history, became the conference's all-time leader in league only wins last January with a home win over Southern Illinois.
Jacob Hutson, who is just four points shy of surpassing 500 points in his Panther career with five games of 20+ points this year, has notched 12.5 points and 3.6 rebounds.
Bond has posted 11.8 points per game with a 61.5% shooting clip, as Campbell leads Northern Iowa with a team-high 52 assists on the year and 10.3 points. Having started the last eight games, Ben Schwieger has recorded 7.5 points with 4.1 rebounds on 49.1% shooting, with Hornseth shooting 37-of-50 on the year (74%).
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
Illinois State returns to CEFCU Arena after a stunning 69-51 loss at Evansville on Wednesday night, being held under 35% shooting from the field. The Redbirds have split their last four league games with wins over Murray State and Southern Illinois.
Led by third year head coach Ryan Pedon, Illinois State was picked fourth in this year's MVC preseason poll with MVC All-Freshman and All-Bench guard Johnny Kinziger leading the charge.
The Redbirds boast the eighth-best national and league-best effective field goal percentage (58.4%) and also lead the MVC with 10.5 made three-point baskets per game. Kinziger has posted 13.8 points a game with Chase Walker, Illinois State's leading rebounder with 6.1 boards a game, re- cording 13.6 points. Dalton Banks has also added 9.6 points per contest, along with 8.4 points from Ty Pence.
Saturday's game will also feature former Panther Landon Wolf taking on his former team. The Cedar Falls native played 54 games at Northern Iowa (2021-23) with 6.1 points and 1.4 rebounds a game. He has notched 7.8 points and shot 41.1% from three-point range in his first season with the Redbirds
UNI men's basketball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Men's Basketball), X (@UNImbb) and on Instagram (@uni_basketball). The full 2024-25 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
