University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
16-9,8-6MVC
Murray State
18-8,10-5MVC
UNI men’s basketball rolls to 29-point rout at Murray State
2/9/2026 11:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Panthers sweep regular season series of Racers in dominating performance. UNI visits league-leading Belmont on Thursday in Nashville.
MURRAY, Ky. --- It was a dominant performance for the UNI men's basketball team on Monday night as the Panthers rolled to an impressive 89-60 win over the Murray State Racers at the CFSB Center in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) action.
Leading from start to finish, Northern Iowa shot 60.6% from the field, its best mark against a Division I opponent this season with its largest D-I margin of victory (29) and most points against a D-I challenger this year (89). The victory over the league's top scoring offense also snapped the Panthers' four-game road losing streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers led the entirety of the first half shooting an efficient 54% from the field, attacking the paint and outrebounding the Racers by a plus-three margin. Leon Bond III gave UNI an early spark with six of its first 12 points, while Will Hornseth battled inside the paint with a team-high ten points in the period of five-of-eight shooting. Northern Iowa stretched its lead to as many as 13 points with a 10-0 scoring run at 22-9. The Racers would pull within five points down the stretch, but a quick 5-0 scoring spurt from a Kyle Pock triple and Trey Campbell just extended the lead back to ten, with Campbell finding Hornseth for a final layup at the buzzer to take a 39-31 lead into halftime.
Campbell took control of the game with eight straight points out of the break as UNI maintained a double digit lead for the rest of the night. Holding Murray State under 40% shooting in the half and outscoring the Racers by an 11-2 margin off turnovers, Northern Iowa continued to dominate inside with 30 points in the paint, along with four three-point buckets. Campbell added 18 points to his total for the game with 11 points from Bond, seven points from Tristan Smith and six apiece from Schwieger and Hornseth as the Panthers pulled away and held the Racers scoreless for the final three minutes, 28 seconds.
Campbell finished the night with a game-high 22 points with a career-high tying ten baskets and six assists, while Bond posted 19 points with three triples and two steals. Hornseth tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks as Smith recorded 13 points and nine rebounds and Schwieger notching ten points and two steals. Ismael Diouf meanwhile finished with four points, with Kyle Pock and RJ Taylor each scoring two points.
The guys played really hard tonight and that's all you can hope from them, said head coach Ben Jacobson. Teamwork and confidence are the biggest takeaways from this one. The last ten to 12 days have been amazing in the huddles and timeouts and they're really holding each other accountable. We'll get back to work tomorrow and look to carry this into another big one on Thursday in Nashville.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 5-2 all-time against the Racers to complete its first two-game regular season sweep of Murray State in program history. The Panthers have also won a program-best three straight games against the Racers.
- Monday's 29-point win marks UNI's sixth-largest margin of victory all-time against an MVC opponent and largest since beating Drake by 33 points at home during the 2015-16 season.
- Northern Iowa is now 12-2 when holding opponents to 60 points or fewer this year.
- The Panthers' 15 assists on Monday night were the third-most in a game this season and most since assisting on 17 baskets last month against Belmont.
- Monday night marked the first time since January of 2025 against Murray State that four UNI starters all finished in double figures in scoring (Tytan Anderson, Jacob Hutson, Trey Campbell, Leon Bond III). The game was also the first for UNI since Feb. 2024 against Drake with five double-digit scorers (Nate Heise, Bowen Born, Anderson, Hutson, Campbell).
- Northern Iowa dominated the paint, outsourcing the Racers by a 54-30 margin. UNI's 54 points in the paint are tied for a season-high set against Indiana State on New Year's Day.
- Northern Iowa has now held 12 of its last 15 opponents under 30% shooting from three-point range with Murray State shooting 20% from beyond the arc on Monday (5-of-25). UNI has also now made at least one three-pointer in 172 consecutive games.
- UNI is now 99-12 (.891) when scoring 80+ points under head coach Ben Jacobson. The Panthers have won 35 of their last 40 when surpassing 80+ points during that stretch and have won their last 18 games when doing so.
- Leon Bond III became the 117th player in program history on Monday to score 500 points in his UNI career in his 16th game of the season scoring in double figures. Bond has scored 607 in his entire career between UNI (2024-pres.) and Virginia (2022-24).
- Trey Campbell started his 121st career game on Monday, passing Ben Jacobson (2002-06) for third-most in team history. Campbell also leads all active MVC players in career starts and has started 88 consecutive games.
- Campbell also notched his third game of 20+ points on Monday, including the eighth such game of his career.
- Ben Schwieger has now scored ten or more points in 14 games this season, including 11 of his last 12 games and in four consecutive games.
- Will Hornseth has now recorded six straight games with ten or more points, including 14 double figure scoring games this year.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action on Thursday, Feb. 12 when they travel to Nashville to take on the Belmont Bruins. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT at the Curb Event Center with live coverage available on the MVC TV Network/ESPN+ 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.
