University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
UIC
Panther men’s basketball visits UIC for Valley opener on Wednesday afternoon
12/16/2025 9:47:00 AM | Men's Basketball
UNI has won five of six conference matchups with the Flames all-time.
UNI men's basketball (8-2 / 0-0 MVC) at UIC (4-6 / 0-1 MVC)
- 4 p.m. CT
- Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025
- Chicago, Ill. | Credit Union 1 Arena (9,500)
- WATCH (ESPN+) [Sam Brief: Play-by-Play / Keno Davis: Analyst)
- LISTEN (Panther Sports Radio Network) [J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst]
- LIVE RESULTS
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The 2025-26 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) schedule kicks off for the UNI men's basketball team on Wednesday afternoon as the Panthers head to the Windy City to take on the UIC Flames.
Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network (93.5 The Mix) with J.W. Cox and Kevin Boyle on the call.
UNI, which has won eight of its first ten games on the year, holds a 15-12 lead on UIC in the all-time series, and a 5-1 advantage on the Flames in league play all-time. The Panthers swept UIC in both regular season matchups a year ago.
Northern Iowa will look to continue its hot start to the season after topping Oakland at home on Saturday night by a score of 75-63. Leon Bond III, who was named the MVC's Player of the Week on Monday, scored a season-high 26 points plus seven rebounds in the win, while Tristan Smith posted his first Division I double-double with 18 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Trey Campbell tallied 14 points with three made triples and three steals, as Will Hornseth recorded nine points and five boards. Ben Schwieger posted six points with new career-highs in assists (7) and steals (4) in his first start of the year, with Kyle Pock posted five points.
Through ten games, the Panther defense ranks third in all of Division I with a 58 points per game scoring defense. UNI also ranks in the top-20 in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.374) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.273), while also forcing 14.5 turnovers per game.
UNI is also fifth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.9), ranks third in the league with 17.4 assists per game. Northern Iowa also boasts the MVC's second-best scoring margin (15.9) and have committed just 8.9 turnovers per game.
Campbell looks to continue to add to the record book against UIC. Having scored his 1,000th career point earlier this month, Campbell also became the tenth player in team history to record 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 200 assists in a Panther career, joining Ron Lemons, Dale Turner, Ben Jacobson, Eric Coleman, Jake Koch, Johnny Moran, Seth Tuttle, Jeremy Morgan and Tytan Anderson.
Sophomore forward Will Hornseth looks to continue to be a strong presence inside the paint, recently taking over as UNI's career shooting percentage leader (64.9%) with a minimum of 100 made shots.
SCOUTING UIC
The Flames welcome UNI to Chicago having dropped its last four games, including an 87-84 loss to league-leading Belmont in their MVC opener last weekend.
Led by second year head coach Rob Ehsan, UIC posted a 17-14 record last season (10- 10 in MVC) to tie for fifth in the league standings, falling to Bradley in the quarterfinal round of the MVC Tournament.
The Flames have been among the top free throw shooting teams in the conference, leading the MVC in free throw percentage (.777) and free throws made per game (18.5). UIC has also been stellar in forcing opposing turnovers this year with 14.9 takeaways this season, second in the MVC to Bradley.
Ahmad Henderson II leads the Flames with 14.6 points per game along with a team-high 13 steals, while Andy Johnson has notched 14.3 points. Mekhi Lowery six rebounds per game leads UIC with Abdul Momoh posting 15 total blocks on the year.
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.
