University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
UC Irvine
UNI men’s basketball visits UC Irvine in first road test of season
11/20/2025 1:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Panthers battle reigning NIT runner-up on the west coast on Saturday night.
UNI men's basketball (4-0 / 0-0 MVC) at UC Irvine (3-2 / 0-0 Big West)
- 9:30 p.m. CT
- Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025
- Irvine, Calif. | Bren Events Center (5,000)
- WATCH (ESPN+) [Trent Rush: Play-by-Play]
- LISTEN (Panther Sports Radio Network) [Jonah Malkin: Play-by-Play]
- LIVE RESULTS
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- For the first time this season the UNI men's basketball team hits the road as it begins a three-game swing on the west coast, taking on the UC Irvine Anteaters in non-conference play on Saturday night.
Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT with live coverage ESPN+, as well as the Panther Sports Radio Network (93.5 The Mix).
UNI, which is off to its first 4-0 start to a season since the 2019-20 campaign, dropped its first and only matchup to UC Irvine in Cedar Falls last season by a score of 80-60. Both 20-win teams and NIT participants a year ago, the Anteaters come into the season as the reigning NIT runners-up. UC Irvine is the fourth 20-win team from last season and third NIT program the Panthers have played this year.
Northern Iowa outlasted a tough Northern Illinois squad in its last outing on Tuesday in a 70-54 victory at home that saw Tristan Smith score 18 points with three blocks. Trey Campbell tallied 15 points with a career-high six steals, while Will Hornseth and Leon Bond III each scored 12 points
Through four games, the Panther defense has forced 65 opposing turnovers (16.2 per game), fourth-most in the MVC. UNI has also posted the league's best scoring defense early with just 56.5 points allowed per game, the eighth-best mark in all of Division I. The Panthers also boast the nation's 19th-best three-point percentage defense (.247).
Campbell enters Saturday night's contest with the Anteaters sitting 39 points shy of becoming the latest member of the program's 1,000 career point club. Additionally, Hornseth continues his pace to take over as UNI's all-time leader in career field goal shooting, boasting a career mark of 68.7%.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE
The Anteaters return to the Bren Events Center having won three of their first five matchups this season, most recently falling at Utah Valley on Wednesday in the on-campus game of the Cancun Challenge, 79-72.
Led by 16th year head coach Russell Turner, UC Irvine, was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Big West Conference, one season after finishing second in the league standings and finishing as the conference tournament runner-up to UC San Diego. Guards Jurian Dixon and Andre Henry were both named to the Preseason All-Big West Team.
The Anteaters lead the nation with 23.2 assists per game and top-20 in blocks, rebounds and defensive rebounds per contest. Dixon leads UC Irvine and the Big West with 19.2 points per game, with four additional teammates also averaging double-digit scoring figures.
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). Schedule and roster information, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
