1989–90 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 1989–90 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa as a member of the Mid-Continent Conference during the 1989-90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Eldon Miller and played their home games at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Panthers won the Mid-Con tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament — the school’s first trip to the "Big Dance." In the first round, UNI upset No. 3 seed Missouri, 74–71. The Panthers fell to No. 6 seed Minnesota, 81–78, in the second round. The team finished with a record of 23–9 (6–6 in the Mid-Con).

1989–90 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball
Mid-Con tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Mid-Continent Conference
Record	23–9 (6–6 Mid-Con)
Head coach	Eldon Miller (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Kevin Boyle (4th season) Kevin Lehman (4th season) Samuel Skarich (4th season)
Home arena	UNI-Dome
Seasons ← 1988–89 1990–91 →

1989–90 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Southwest Missouri State	11	–	1		.917			22	–	7		.759
Green Bay	9	–	3		.750			24	–	8		.750
Western Illinois	6	–	6		.500			16	–	13		.552
Northern Iowa †	6	–	6		.500			23	–	9		.719
UIC	6	–	6		.500			16	–	12		.571
Eastern Illinois	3	–	9		.250			10	–	18		.357
Valparaiso	1	–	11		.083			4	–	24		.143
Cleveland State	0	–	0		–			15	–	13		.536
† 1990 Mid-Con Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989–90 team was inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.^[1]

Roster

1989–90 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown C 00 Jason Reese 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Des Moines, Iowa PG 11 Dale Turner 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 193 lb (88 kg) So Venice, Illinois G 20 Maurice Newby 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Des Moines, Iowa F 21 Brian Jones  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Rock Island, Illinois G 22 Jonathan Cox 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Springfield, Illinois G 23 Chris Nuss 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 207 lb (94 kg) So Cedar Falls, Iowa F 24 Kent Pollpeter 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr West Point, Iowa F 32 Cedrick McCullough 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 204 lb (93 kg) So Maywood, Illinois F/C 33 Scott Socha 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Marshalltown, Iowa G/F 34 Brad Hill 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 204 lb (93 kg) Jr Akron, Ohio C 40 Nick Pace 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 239 lb (108 kg) So Winterset, Iowa C 42 Terry Merfeld 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 206 lb (93 kg) Fr Hudson, Iowa G/F 44 Troy Muilenburg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Jr Davenport, Iowa F 50 Steve Phyfe 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Sr Nashua, Iowa	Head coach Eldon Miller (Wittenberg) Assistant coach(es) Kevin Boyle (Iowa) Kevin Lehman (Wartburg) Samuel Skarich (Notre Dame) Mark Ackerman (Graduate assistant) Nick Nurse (Student assistant) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

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Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 27, 1989* 7:35 p.m.		Missouri Western	W 99–84	1–0	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Dec 2, 1989* 5:35 p.m.		at Drake Iowa Big Four	W 71–63 OT	2–0	Veterans Memorial Auditorium  Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 4, 1989* 7:35 p.m.		Northwest Missouri State	W 110–82	3–0	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Dec 9, 1989* 3:35 p.m.		Northern Illinois	W 63–59	4–0	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Dec 11, 1989* 7:30 p.m.		at Sam Houston State	W 92–79	5–0	Johnson Coliseum  Huntsville, Texas
Dec 16, 1989* 1:00 p.m.		at Iowa State Iowa Big Four	L 80–92	5–1	Hilton Coliseum  Ames, Iowa
Dec 27, 1989* 7:30 p.m.		at Nevada	W 89–88	6–1	Lawlor Events Center  Reno, Nevada
Dec 29, 1989* 7:30 p.m.		vs. No. 3 Georgetown	L 49–83[4]	6–2	Thomas & Mack Center (4,348) Paradise, Nevada
Jan 3, 1990* 7:05 p.m.		No. 20 Iowa Iowa Big Four	W 77–74	7–2	UNI-Dome (22,797) Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan 6, 1990* 7:35 p.m.		Stephen F. Austin	W 120–96	8–2	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan 8, 1990* 7:35 p.m.		Sam Houston State	W 100–77	9–2	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan 10, 1990* 7:05 p.m.		at Northern Illinois	W 63–62	10–2	Chick Evans Field House  DeKalb, Illinois
Jan 15, 1990 7:30 p.m.		at Western Illinois	L 61–64	10–3 (0–1)	Western Hall  Macomb, Illinois
Jan 17, 1990 7:30 p.m.		at Eastern Illinois	W 67–65	11–3 (1–1)	Lantz Arena  Charleston, Illinois
Jan 20, 1990 7:35 p.m.		Wisconsin–Green Bay	L 58–59	11–4 (1–2)	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan 22, 1990 7:35 p.m.		Illinois-Chicago	W 75–47	12–4 (2–2)	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan 27, 1990 1:30 p.m.		at Valparaiso	W 89–80	13–4 (3–2)	Athletics-Recreation Center  Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 29, 1990 7:30 p.m.		at Cleveland State	W 77–75	14–4	Woodling Gym  Cleveland, Ohio
Feb 3, 1990 7:35 p.m.		SW Missouri State	L 72–82	14–5 (3–3)	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Feb 5, 1990 7:35 p.m.		Eastern Illinois	W 68–54	15–5 (4–3)	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Feb 10, 1990 7:35 p.m.		Western Illinois	W 86–71	16–5 (5–3)	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Feb 12, 1990* 7:35 p.m.		Chicago State	W 96–81	17–5	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Feb 17, 1990 7:35 p.m.		at Wisconsin–Green Bay	L 50–64	17–6 (5–4)	Brown County Arena  Green Bay, Wisconsin
Feb 19, 1990 7:30 p.m.		at Illinois-Chicago	L 60–63	17–7 (5–5)	UIC Pavilion  Chicago, Illinois
Feb 24, 1990 7:35 p.m.		Valparaiso	W 90–62	18–7 (6–5)	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Feb 26, 1990 7:35 p.m.		Cleveland State	W 78–76	19–7	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Mar 1, 1990 7:35 p.m.		at SW Missouri State	L 86–94	19–8 (6–6)	Hammons Student Center  Springfield, Missouri
Mid-Continent Conference tournament
Mar 5, 1990*	(4)	(5) Illinois-Chicago Quarterfinals	W 99–94 3OT	20–8	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Mar 6, 1990*	(4)	(1) SW Missouri State Semifinals	W 63–61	21–8	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
Mar 7, 1990*	(4)	(2) Wisconsin–Green Bay Championship	W 53–45	22–8	UNI-Dome  Cedar Falls, Iowa
NCAA Tournament
Mar 16, 1990*  ESPN	(14 SE)	vs. (3 SE) No. 11 Missouri First Round	W 74–71[5][6][7]	23–8	Richmond Coliseum  Richmond, Virginia
Mar 18, 1990*	(14 SE)	vs. (6 SE) No. 20 Minnesota Second Round	L 78–81[8]	23–9	Richmond Coliseum  Richmond, Virginia
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central Time.

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References

1. "UNI Athletics Hall of Fame Set For Nov. 5". University of Northern Iowa Athletics. October 17, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
2. "1989–90 Northern Iowa Basketball" (PDF). University of Northern Iowa. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
3. "1989-90 Northern Iowa Panthers Roster and Stats". Retrieved May 1, 2020.
4. "Hoyas Top Pesky Northern Iowa". The Washington Post. December 30, 1989. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
5. "N.C.A.A.: Southeast Regional; Northern Iowa Stuns Missouri with 3-Pointer". The New York Times. March 17, 1990. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
6. "A win for the ages: 20 years ago, UNI rocked college basketball". The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. March 14, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
7. "Twenty years ago today (March 16), UNI had its best basketball day ever". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids). March 16, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
8. "NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT / SOUTHEAST REGIONAL AT RICHMOND, VA. : Syracuse, Minnesota Weather Upset Bug--Barely : Gophers: Burton scores career-high 36 points and upstart Northern Iowa finally falls by wayside, 81-78". Los Angeles Times. March 19, 1990. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
9. "2019–20 Northern Iowa Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Northern Iowa Athletics. Retrieved May 1, 2020.

External links

• 1990 NCAA Basketball First Round - University of Northern Iowa vs Missouri on YouTube