University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Drake
UNI men’s hoops visits Drake to close 2025-26 regular season
2/28/2026 11:27:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Panthers battle Bulldogs in road contest ahead of next week’s conference tournament.
UNI men's basketball (18-12 / 10-9 MVC) at Drake (12-18 / 6-13 MVC)
- 2 p.m. CT
- Sunday, Mar. 1, 2026
- Des Moines, Iowa | Knapp Center (6,424)
- WATCH (ESPN+) [Larry Morgan: Play-by-Play / Laura Leonard: Analyst]
- LISTEN (Panther Sports Radio Network) [J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
- LIVE RESULTS
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The UNI men's basketball team will close out the 2025-26 regular season on Sunday with a matinee matchup on the road against in-state rival Drake in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) action.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT 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.
Fans in the area are invited to attend a pregame social in downtown Des Moines at the Lucky Horse from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT (2331 University Avenue).
UNI topped Drake in its first meeting of the season in Cedar Falls on Feb. 15 with a commanding 86-62 victory. The Panthers hold a 54-35 lead in the all-time series against the Bulldogs and will be in search of its first regular season sweep of Drake since 2020.
Sunday's outcome will impact Northern Iowa's seeding heading into the 2026 MVC Tournament, set to begin next Thursday in St. Louis with the Panthers slated for the six, seven or eight seed. UNI can clinch the six-seed with a win at Drake, plus losses by Valparaiso at Evansville on Saturday and Illinois State at home to Belmont on Sunday. The Panthers will be the seven-seed with a win and Valparaiso win. UNI would drop to the eight-seed with a loss and a win by Southern Illinois on Saturday at Evansville.
The Panthers shot 75% in the second half but came up just short in their last outing on Wednesday night in the final seconds of a 71-69 loss to Illinois State in its home finale. UNI made seven straight three-point baskets to begin the second half in the loss in a matchup that featured 16 total lead changes.
Will Hornseth, Trey Campbell and Ben Schwieger all scored 13 points in the loss to the Redbirds, as Hornseth led the game with a career-high tying nine rebounds, while Schwieger went three-for-three from beyond the arc in the second half and Campbell added a game-high five assists. Max Weisbrod tallied nine points, as Tristan Smith scored six points.
UNI leads all of Division I men's basketball in scoring defense with 61.4 points allowed per game, giving up 70+ points just six times this season. The Panthers are 13-3 when holding teams to 60 or fewer points this year.
Northern Iowa also ranks fifth in Division I in three-point percentage defense, limiting opponents to just 28.4% from beyond the arc. Entering their game against Southern Illinois, the Panthers have held 13 of their last 20 opponents under 30% from three-point range.
UNI's scoring defense is currently on pace for the fourth-best mark since transitioning to a Division I program (1980-81). The Panthers have made the NCAA Tournament each of the previous three seasons when giving up 60 points or fewer.
The Panthers are also top-40 in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.411). UNI's opponents have shot over 50% only four times this year.
Campbell looks to continue to add to the record book against the Salukis. Having scored his 1,000th career point in December, Campbell's 126 career starts at UNI are third-most in program history, and the most among all active players in the MVC. Campbell is also fourth in team history in career steals (162), sixth in three-point field goal attempts (548) and fifth in made three-pointers (204). With 15 more rebounds, Campbell can also become the first player in UNI history to record 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds and 300 career assists.
Hornseth, who is 11 points shy of 500 for his career, looks to continue to be a strong presence inside the paint, recently taking over as UNI's career shooting percentage leader (63.5%) with a minimum of 100 made shots. He has also scored ten or more points in 11 consecutive games, while also maintaining the sixth-highest single-season shooting clip in team history (.614).
At the three-point line, Max Weisbrod has also provided a spark for the Panther offense from three-point range. The DeForest, Wisconsin native is currently shooting 39.6% from beyond the arc this season, scoring a season-high 18 points in consecutive games against Belmont and Drake in February, including a UNI career-high six made three-pointers against the Bulldogs. He has also posted double-digit points in three of his last five games and made multiple triples in his last five outings as well.
SCOUTING DRAKE
The Bulldogs play host to the Panthers in their home finale amid an eight-game skid following a 74-71 heartbreaker on the road at Valparaiso on Wednesday. Drake is locked into the nine-seed at Arch Madness and will play the opening game of the tournament on Thursday in St. Louis against the eight-seed (either Southern Illinois or UNI).
Drake has allowed the third-fewest turnovers in the league this season (10.2 per game) and attempted the third-most three-point shots in the conference (26.3 per game).
Jalen Quinn, the MVC's leading scorer with 19.8 points per game, sits just seven point shy of 600 points on the year and the eighth player in Bulldog history to score 600 points in a season. Quinn also ranks in the top ten in the league in total steals (36) with Isaiah Carr posting 33 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.
