University of Northern Iowa
Belmont
UNI men’s basketball set to close road trip at Belmont
2/18/2025 11:55:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Panthers eye sixth straight win against one of the nation’s top three-point shooting teams.
UNI men's basketball (18-9 / 12-4 MVC) at Belmont (18-9 / 10-6 MVC)
- 6:30 p.m. CT | Feb. 19, 2025
- Curb Event Center | Nashville, Tenn.
- ESPN+ (Steve Layman: Play-by-Play / Greg Sage: Analyst / Will Boling: Sideline)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play)
- LIVE STATS
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The red hot UNI men's basketball team will close out a two-game road trip on Wednesday night after a short turnaround to take on the Belmont Bruins in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT at the Curb Event Center in Nashville with live coverage available on ESPN+. Fans can also catch the radio call of the game with J.W. Cox on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
Northern Iowa and Belmont have split the first six meetings of the all-time series, which began during the 2022-23 season when the Bruins joined the MVC. UNI has won the last two matchups, an MVC Tournament quarterfinal battle last season in St. Louis, and the most recent meeting in Cedar Falls back on New Year's Day where the Panthers emerged with a 76-70 home win. UNI sits at 4-4 in road games on the season and 4-3 in conference road contests.
The Panthers, who boast the MVC's longest active winning streak at five games, enter the week tied with Bradley for second place in the MVC standings and just one game behind league leading Drake with an 12-4 conference record after a 74-67 win over Murray State on Monday night, a game that was delayed 26 hours and relocated to Nashville due to power outages caused by local flooding in western Kentucky. Northern Iowa showed no signs of rust despite the change in schedule and venue, shooting 45.3% from the field while pulling down eight offensive rebounds and recording seven steals.
Trey Campbell finished with a game-high 21 points with five made three pointers and four rebounds, while Tytan Anderson tallied 19 points and six rebounds. Ben Schwieger also posted 19 points with six boards on seven-of-ten shooting and a team-high four assists. Will Hornseth ended the night with seven points, while Max Weisbrod posted four points late in the second half.
Northern Iowa continues to maintain a hot shooting hand this season, ranking seventh in all of Division I with a 49.7% shooting clip, shooting over 50% in 12 of its 27 games this year. UNI is also 18th nationally in effective field goal percentage (56.4%) and 30th in three-point shooting (37.5%).
Anderson, the MVC's leader in made free throws (122) and attempts (171) who also looks to continue climbing the program's top-ten all-time steals list, leads UNI with 14.9 points per game and a team-high 6.5 rebounds a game on 57.6% shooting. Anderson also tied Kwadzo Ahelegbe (2006-11) for tenth in school history in career games played (133).
Jacob Hutson has notched 11.8 points and 4.2 rebounds, while Campbell has posted 11.6 points and a team-high 78 assists. Schwieger has put up 9.8 points and 4.7 boards per game as a starter in the Panther lineup in the last 19 contests. Hornseth, meanwhile,is shooting at a high percentage in his freshman season, posting a 69.7% clip on 62-of-89 shooting, currently on pace to set a new single-season field goal percentage record.
From beyond the arc, Cael Schmitt, who has appeared in nine games since his UNI and Division I debut at Southern Illinois last month, has steadily increased his minutes on the floor each game while shooting seven-for-23 from range. Weisbrod has also been a spark for Northern Iowa's three-point shooting having started the last six games and trailing on Campbell for the team lead with 35 made three pointers on 38.9%.
SCOUTING BELMONT
The Bruins have maintained a top-four spot in the league standings, going 8-4 since falling at UNI on Jan. 1. Belmont won five straight after its loss in Cedar Falls and is coming off a 73-68 win at Southern Illinois last Saturday.
Jonathan Pierre posted a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double in the Bruins' last matchup with the Panthers, as Carter Whitt scored 17 points. Sam Orme also added 11 points in a game where Belmont shot 39.3% from the field and sank 12 three-point baskets.
The Bruins boast the nation's seventh-best three-point shooting clip at 39.4% with 11.1 made three pointers per game, fourth most in Division I. Belmont has also distributed the ball well with a league-best 17.6 assists per game.
Tyler Lundblade ranks second nationally with a 48.6% three-point shooting clip with an MVC-best 87 total threes this season. Pierre has notched a team-best 14.1 points a game with 5.1 defensive boards a game.
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.
