Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball

Northern Iowa Panthers
2024–25 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team
University	University of Northern Iowa
Head coach	Ben Jacobson (19th season)
Conference	Missouri Valley
Location	Cedar Falls, Iowa
Arena	McLeod Center (capacity: 7,018)
Nickname	Panthers
Student section	Panther Mayhem
Colors	Purple and old gold[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Final Four
1964*
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1964*
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1962*, 1964*, 1979*, 2010
NCAA tournament round of 32
1962*, 1964*, 1979*, 1990, 2010, 2015, 2016
NCAA tournament appearances
1962*, 1964*, 1979*, 1990, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016 *at Division II level
Conference tournament champions
1990, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016
Conference regular season champions
1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1962, 1964, 1969, 2009, 2010, 2020, 2022

The Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represents the University of Northern Iowa located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI is currently a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Postseason results

NCAA Division I Tournament

Northern Iowa has made the NCAA tournament eight times. The Panthers have a record of 5–8.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1990	#14	First round Second Round	#3 Missouri #6 Minnesota	W 74–71 L 78–81
2004	#14	First round	#3 Georgia Tech	L 60–65
2005	#11	First round	#6 Wisconsin	L 52–57
2006	#10	First round	#7 Georgetown	L 49–54
2009	#12	First round	#5 Purdue	L 56–61
2010	#9	First round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#8 UNLV #1 Kansas #5 Michigan State	W 69–66 W 69–67 L 52–59
2015	#5	First round Second Round	#12 Wyoming #4 Louisville	W 71–54 L 53–66
2016	#11	First round Second Round	#6 Texas #3 Texas A&M	W 75–72 L 88–92 (2OT)

NCAA Division II Tournament

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1962	Regional semifinals Regional Finals	Hamline Nebraska Wesleyan	W 81–68 L 77–78
1964	Regional semifinals Regional Finals Quarterfinals Semifinals Third-place game	Washington-St. Louis Mankato State Southeast Missouri Evansville North Carolina A&T	W 71–56 W 71–64 (OT) W 93–85 L 67–82 L 72–91
1979	Regional semifinals Regional Finals	Nebraska-Omaha Wisconsin-Green Bay	W 84–72 L 50–56

NIT Tournament history

Northern Iowa has made the NIT twice, with a record of 2-2.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
2012	#7	First round Second Round	#2 Saint Joseph's #3 Drexel	W 67–65 L 63–65
2022	#6	First round Second Round	#3 Saint Louis #2 BYU	W 80–68 L 71–90

CIT Tournament history

Season	Eliminated Round	Teams Defeated	Lost to
2011	Quarterfinals	Rider	SMU
2013	Semifinals	North Dakota UIC Bradley	Weber State

Other tournaments

• NAIA National Tournament appearances: 1946, 1948, 1949, and 1953 (2–4 combined tournament record)
• Competed in the 2007 World University Games as Team USA (finished ninth)^[2]

Coaching history

Main article: List of Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball head coaches

Ben Jacobson era

Jacobson's biggest coaching accomplishment to date was in the 2009–10 season, when the Panthers made a run into the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament highlighted by an upset of top national seed Kansas. ESPN.com columnist Pat Forde called the Panthers' win "the biggest tourney upset in years," and called the clinching shot by Panthers guard Ali Farokhmanesh "the gutsiest early-round shot in NCAA tournament history."

Jacobson also coached UNI as it became the first college program ever to represent the United States of America at an international basketball competition. In August 2007, UNI was chosen to be Team USA at the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. Donning the Red, White and Blue, UNI went 5–1 in the tournament, losing only to eventual gold medalist Lithuania, while posting wins over Angola, Turkey, China, Finland and Israel.

On November 15, 2014, Jacobson became the all-time win leader for a coach in UNI Men's basketball history. After recording a win over his alma mater University of North Dakota, he notched his 167th UNI victory. Additionally, in the 2014–15 season, Jacobson led the Panthers to their highest ranking in school history (#10) in the AP and (#9) in the Coaches Poll. UNI also in that season achieved the most wins in the school's history with 31. Jacobson has also been awarded the Missouri Valley Conference coach of the year award in 2009, 2010, and 2015.

On November 21, 2015, Jacobson led UNI to a victory over #1 North Carolina. The win was one of the biggest in program history and came in just the first meeting of the two basketball programs. Just four days later the coach hit another career milestone. After defeating the University of Dubuque in convincing fashion, the coach recorded his 200th victory at the university.

In the first round of the MVC tournament, Jacobson notched his 250th Northern Iowa career win against Evansville on March 1, 2018.

On February 27, 2021 he earned his 300th win as coach in the regular season finale against Illinois State.

Notable players

• A. J. Green
• Darian DeVries
• Ali Farokhmanesh
• Jon Godfread
• Paul Jesperson
• Adam Koch
• John Little
• Greg McDermott
• Jeremy Morgan
• Nick Nurse - Coached Toronto Raptors to 2019 NBA Championship and named NBA Coach of the Year in 2020.
• Seth Tuttle
• Wes Washpun

Rivalries

The school has several statewide and national rivalries. In Iowa, UNI used to play two, if not three of its Iowa neighbors for the Iowa Big Four men's college basketball mythical championship. The university also used to play either the University of Iowa or Iowa State University in the Hyvee Big Four Classic held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. UNI’s MVC rivals are UIC, Bradley, Drake, and Missouri State.

References

1. University of Northern Iowa Athletics Style Guide (PDF). January 25, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
2. Katz, Andy (July 10, 2009). "U.S. to play Israel for bronze". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 10, 2009.