University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Illinois State
UNI men’s hoops meets Illinois State in Panthers In Paradise Game
2/7/2025 10:17:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Panthers square off against hot shooting Redbird team on Saturday. Tickets available for purchase.
UNI men's basketball (15-9 / 9-4 MVC) vs. Illinois State (15-9 / 7-6 MVC)
- 5 p.m. CT | Feb. 8, 2025
- McLeod Center (6,650) | Cedar Falls, Iowa
- ESPNU / ESPN+ (Clay Matvick: Play-by-Play / Kevin Lehman: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
- LIVE STATS
- TICKETS
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- Basketball and the beach come together this Saturday afternoon as the UNI men's basketball team squares off against the Illinois State Redbirds inside the McLeod Center for a Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) matchup in the first-ever Panthers In Paradise game.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT with live coverage available on ESPNU, with a simulcast available on ESPN+. Fans can also catch the radio call of the game with J.W. Cox and Kevin Boyle on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
Tickets for Saturday's game can be purchased online through the UNI Ticket Office, by calling 319-273-4849, or through email at tickets@uni.edu.
As part of the Panthers In Paradise celebration, fans are encouraged to party like it's summertime with tropical apparel, with courtside hot tubs for UNI students, as well as a replica jersey giveaway for the first 250 UNI students through the gate.
Northern Iowa seeks its 12th win in the last 13 meetings with the Redbirds on Saturday, having narrowly bested the Illinois State in Normal back on Jan.11 by a score of 85-84 thanks to a game-winning layup at the final buzzer by Tytan Anderson. UNI has won five in a row against the Redbirds at home dating back to the 2017-18 season.
The Panthers return home tied with Bradley for second place in the MVC standings and two games behind league leading Drake with a 9-4 conference record after a 66-61 road win at Missouri State on Wednesday night. Despite a tough shooting night of 41%, UNI outshot the Bears with 19 made free throws on 26 attempts and outscored Missouri State by an 18-12 margin off turnovers in the final regular season matchup between the two teams as MVC opponents. UNI, which led by four points at halftime, is a perfect 14-0 this season when leading at the break, as well as 14-0 when ahead with five minutes to play in regulation.
Both Trey Campbell and Jacob Hutson finished with a game-high 20 points each, with Hutson pulling down six rebounds and Campbell dishing out a team-high three assists. Campbell and Hutson's 20-point performances notably marked the fourth time this season multiple Panthers have scored 20 or more points in a game.Ben Schwieger scored 12 points with six boards in the win with a pair of blocks, as Cael Schmitt scored five points with two rebounds. Will Hornseth tallied four points as Anderson finished with three points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Northern Iowa continues to maintain a hot shooting hand this season, ranking eighth in all of Division I with a 49.5% shooting clip, shooting over 50% in ten of its 24 games this year. UNI is also 30th nationally in effective field goal percentage (56.1%).
Anderson, the MVC's leader in made free throws (109) and attempts (153) who also looks to continue climbing the program's top-ten all-time steals list, leads UNI with 14.3 points per game and a team-high 6.5 rebounds a game on 55.7% shooting. Anderson is also four assists away from becoming 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) in an elite club of Panther players.
Hutson has notched 12.1 points and 3.9 rebounds, while Campbell has posted 10.9 points and a team-high 71 assists. Schwieger has put up 9.5 points and 4.4 boards per game as a starter in the Panther lineup in the last 16 contests. Hornseth, meanwhile,is shooting at a high percentage in his freshman season, posting a 69.3% clip on 52-of-75 shooting, currently on pace to set a new single-season field goal percentage record.
From beyond the arc, Schmitt, who has appeared in six 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 six-for-18 from range. Max Weisbrod has also been a spark for Northern Iowa's three-point shooting having started the last three games and trailing on Campbell for the team lead with 32 made three pointers on 41%.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
The Redbirds make their way to Cedar Falls after escaping Chicago on Wednesday with an 81-79 win at UIC, thanks to a career-high 31 point game by Chase Walker. Illinois State is on a three-game winning streak and is 5-2 since its last matchup with the Panthers a month ago, scoring wins against Missouri State, Indiana State, Belmont, Valparaiso and UIC.
The Redbirds are among the nation's most efficient scoring teams, ranking sixth in Division I with a 58.1% mark in effective field goal percentage. ISU is also seventh in the country in three-point percentage (39.3%) and made three pointers per game (10.4).
Walker is fourth in the MVC with a 15.8 points per game average this season with Johnny Kinziger posting 14.6 points. Walker also leads the league with a 59.8% shooting clip overall.
Saturday will also be a homecoming for former Panther and Cedar Falls native Landon Wolf, who played for UNI from 2021-24. Wolf is averaging 7.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and just under one assist per game with Illinois State, having started all 24 games this 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). The full 2024-25 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
