University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
12-4,4-1MVC
Belmont
14-3,4-2MVC
UNI men’s basketball falls at home to Belmont
1/7/2026 8:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Belmont three-point shooting stifles Panthers in first MVC loss of the season. UNI visits Bradley on Saturday.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI men's basketball pulled with two points in the final minutes of the first half, but could not regain the lead on Wednesday night in a 78-65 loss to the Belmont Bruins inside the McLeod Center in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play.
In a battle between Belmont's second-in-the-league scoring offense and Northern Iowa's best in the nation scoring defense, the Bruins dominated from the three-point arc early, knocking down ten three-point baskets on 60% overall shooting.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Belmont set an early tone with a hot shooting hand from beyond the three-point arc, knocking down six-of-15 attempts from deep to take a double-digit lead on the Panthers. Despite being held to 33% shooting in the first half, UNI was able to cut into the Bruins' lead with its three-point shooting, with Max Weisbrod and Trey Campbell both knocking down a pair of triples, as RJ Taylor and Ben Schwieger both adding one of their own. Slowing down Belmont late and inching closer with a 13-4 run to close the period, Northern Iowa went into the halftime break trailing 36-32.
UNI would struggle to slow the Bruins' offense in the second half, which shot 71.4% from the field, including seven-for-seven to start the half. The Panthers shot an even 40% from the field with six made three-point baskets, led by an eight-point half from Leon Bond III. Schwieger and Weisbrod added a pair of three-pointers each but struggled to slow down Belmont's interior in the 13-point loss.
Schwieger and Weisbrod led the Panthers with 12 points, with Weisbrod sinking season-high four made three-pointers. Bond posted ten points and seven rebounds, with Campbell tallying nine points and Will Hornseth eight points. Kyle Pock and RJ Taylor each finished with five points in the loss.
"You have to be highly determined defensively to keep making the right decisions and for Belmont to get out to that lead put them in a good spot," said head coach Ben Jacobson. "We found a couple stretches where we got into the open floor, but we kept having to fight back from down seven, down nine, down 14 at one point. It comes back to transition defense, half court defense and defensive rebounds. Our rebounding was good tonight, but in the other two areas we're going to see on the film that we made enough mistakes that allowed them to play with the lead most of the night."
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI falls to 4-3 all-time against Belmont, snapping a four game winning streak against the Bruins.
- Northern Iowa's three turnovers are tied for its season-low after previously turning the ball over three times against Loyola-Chicago at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.
- Ben Schwieger is 28 points shy of becoming the 116th member of UNI's 500 career point club.
- Kyle Pock made his first career start on Wednesday night in his 81st career game played.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 10 as they visit Peoria to take on the Bradley Braves. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT at Carver Arena with live coverage available on ESPNU and the Panther Sports Radio Network (93.5 The Mix).
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.
