One-on-One with Ben Jacobson
(St. Louis, MO) – After Sunday’s overtime loss to Drake, the Northern Iowa Panthers look to bounce back in Wednesday’s game with Illinois Chicago. The Panthers’ first place hopes are all but gone, but positioning and preparing for Arch Madness is critical in this last week of the regular season.
UNI (19-10, 13-5) are tied with Bradley for second place in the Missouri Valley Conference race. Drake’s win provided a two-game cushion with two games to play. The Panthers and Braves face one another on the final day of the season. Wednesday’s game will be the final home game for veteran Tytan Anderson and newcomer Cael Schmitt.
UIC was able to secure a bounce back win over Evansville after their previous loss to Drake and now UNI attempts to do the same. Northern Iowa’s loss to Drake snapped a six-game winning streak.
The two teams opened their conference seasons against one another in early December. UNI prevailed by a wide margin (83-56). While UNI has enjoyed a successful conference season, they continue to play without second leading scorer Leon Bond III. Bond contributed 22 points to the Panthers’ win over the Flames.
In Bond’s absence, Loyola Chicago transfer Ben Schwieger has scored at least nine points in seven straight games, including a double-double (17 points/10 rebounds) against Belmont. Schmitt also joined the lineup eleven games ago.
This is head coach Ben Jacobson’s nineteenth season leading the Panther program. During those 19 years, UNI has claimed four regular season titles and four Arch Madness trophies. Jacobson’s teams have won at least 18 games, thirteen times. He is one win away from his tenth, twenty-win season.
Jacobson is Looking to Bounce Back
Anderson is the fifth Valley performer to record 1,200 points, 750 rebounds, 200 assists and 145 steals. His 1,324 career points are twelfth most in UNI history. He is five points away from tying Kwadzo Ahellegbe for the eleventh spot.
Wednesday’s tip is set for 6 pm Central and can be seen on local Gray Media stations (Matrix Midwest in St. Louis).
UIC (16-12, 9-9) is tied with Illinois State, fifth in the Valley.
To learn more about the Flames, watch our conversation with head coach Rob Ehsan.
Do Good
Editor: Cover photo of Tytan Anderson, courtesy of unipanthers.com.
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Flooding, lightning strikes, etc. have cost @RacersHoops two home games. Had to play 'neutral site' tonight instead of at home and Wednesday's goes from home to away. Tough break for the Racers, and the whole area has been hit with difficulties. #FatherHarry
Murray State's scheduled home game Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois being moved to Banterra Center in Carbondale. #ValleyHoops
Gigantic game for @BradleyUMBB today in Des Moines. If they have a chance to catch @DrakeBulldogsMB, they have to win today. The Bulldogs can basically win the title today. @BustingBrackets breaks it all down. #FatherHarry https://bit.ly/3EGiVgi
Not rooting for any particular @ValleyHoops, but chaos is always fun. If things break certain ways, after today there could be a six-way tie for fifth place.
Fun to listen to @MLBLarry on the @SIU_Basketball/@BelmontMBB game tonight. Good job brother. #FatherHarry
