UNI men’s basketball (14-9 / 8-4 MVC) at Missouri State (8-15 / 1-11 MVC)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Coming off an impressive home win on Sunday, the UNI men’s basketball team returns to the road on Wednesday night as it visits the Missouri State Bears in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) action.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, with live coverage available on the MVC TV Network, as well as the Panther Sports Radio Network with J.W. Cox and Kevin Boyle on the call.

The Panthers will look to extend their current winning streak over the Bears to five games with a victory and sweep the regular season series on Wednesday in the final regular season MVC contest between the two programs. Missouri State holds a narrow 46-43 lead in the all-time series after UNI bested the Bears back on Jan. 21 with a 79-68 home win.

Northern Iowa enters this week’s action in sole possession of third place in the conference standings at 8-4, two games back of first-place Drake and one game behind Bradley. The Panthers put on an impressive showing against Bradley on Sunday with an 83-69 home victory over the Braves. UNI shot 61.5% from the field in the second half and buried ten three-point baskets to hand Bradley, the MVC’s preseason favorite, consecutive losses for the first time this year.

Max Weisbrod led the way for the Panthers with a season-high 18 point outing against the Braves with five made three pointers, while Tytan Anderson posted 17 points with a team-high nine rebounds. Cael Schmitt tallied 12 points with three made triples, as Jacob Hutson also scored 12 points. Ben Schwieger scored nine points with a career-high five assists in the win, while Kyle Pock finished with five points and both Will Hornseth and Trey Campbell with four points.

Northern Iowa continues to maintain a hot shooting hand this season, ranking fifth in all of Division I with a 49.8% shooting clip, shooting over 50% in ten of its 23 games this year. UNI is also 19th nationally in effective field goal percentage (56.5%). 

Anderson, the MVC’s leader in made free throws (106) and attempts (148) who also looks to continue climbing the program’s top-ten all-time steals list, leads UNI with 14.8 points per game and a team-high 6.5 rebounds a game on 57.1% shooting. Anderson is also five 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 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds, while Campbell has posted 10.5 points and a team-high 68 assists. Schwieger, who scored his 500th career point on Sunday, has put up 9.4 points and 4.3 boards per game as a starter in the Panther lineup in the last 15 contests. Hornseth, meanwhile,is shooting at a high percentage in his freshman season, posting a 69.8% clip on 51-of-73 shooting, currently on pace to set a new single-season field goal percentage record.

SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE

The Bears wrap a short two-game homestand after securing their first conference win of the season, a 77-56 victory over Murray State last Saturday to snap a ten-game skid, the second-longest losing streak in program history. 

In its last outing against UNI, Zaxton King sank five three pointers as part of a 17-point performance, with Michael Osei-Bonsu posting an 11-point, eight-rebound game. Dez White also scored ten points. 

Despite a tough stretch of recent play, the Bears are second in the MVC in steals per game (7.5) and turnovers forced per game (13.4). MSU is also second in the league with 10.8 offensive rebounds a game. 

White leads Missouri State with 15.2 points per game with Vincent Brady II posting 13 points a game. Osei-Bonsu, the MVC’s leader with 170 total rebounds, has recorded 11 points per game, while King has tallied 10.1 points.

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.