2021–22 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by 16th-year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

2021–22 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball
Missouri Valley regular season champions
NIT, Second Round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	20–12 (14–4 MVC)
Head coach	Ben Jacobson (16th season)
Assistant coaches	P. J. Hogan Erik Crawford Seth Tuttle
Home arena	McLeod Center
Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Northern Iowa	14	–	4		.778			20	–	12		.625
Missouri State	13	–	5		.722			23	–	11		.676
Drake	13	–	5		.722			25	–	11		.694
Loyola Chicago †	13	–	5		.722			25	–	8		.758
Bradley	11	–	7		.611			17	–	14		.548
Southern Illinois	9	–	9		.500			16	–	14		.533
Valparaiso	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
Illinois State	5	–	13		.278			13	–	20		.394
Indiana State	4	–	14		.222			11	–	20		.355
Evansville	2	–	16		.111			6	–	24		.200
† 2022 MVC tournament winner

With a win over Loyola on February 26, 2022, the Panthers won the regular season MVC championship.^[1] They finished the regular season 18–10, 14–4 in MVC play to finish in first place. They defeated Illinois State in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Loyola. As a No. 1 seed who didn’t win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Saint Louis in the first round before losing in the second round to BYU.

Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Panthers finished the 2020–21 season 10–15, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. Former MVC Player of the Year and first-team all-MVC star A. J. Green played in only three games before he underwent hip surgery and missed the remainder of the season.^[2]

As the No. 7 seed in the MVC tournament, the Panthers defeated Illinois State in the first round. However, they were forced to forfeit their quarterfinal game against Drake due to a positive COVID test and subsequent contact tracing within the UNI program.^[3]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Evan Gauger	10	G	6'2"	175	RS Freshman	Indianola, IA	In transfer portal
Goanar Mar	14	F	6'7"	215	Senior	Minneapolis, MN	Left program for personal reasons[4]

2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Michael Duax SF	Dubuque, IA	Hempstead High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Feb 11, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Chase Courbat C	Cedar Falls, IA	Cedar Falls High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Aug 26, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Landon Wolf SG	Cedar Falls, IA	Cedar Falls High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Oct 23, 2020
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 13, 2021.

2022 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2022)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Trey Campbell PG	Cedar Falls, IA	Cedar Falls High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Nov 10, 2021
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 13, 2021.

Roster

2021–22 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Nate Heise 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Lincoln Lake City, MN F 1 Cole Henry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Fr Oskaloosa Oskaloosa, IA G 3 Tywhon Pickford 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Maple Grove Minneapolis, MN G 4 A. J. Green 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Cedar Falls Cedar Falls, IA G 5 Landon Wolf  6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Cedar Falls Cedar Falls, IA G 11 Trae Berhow 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Watertown Mayer Pepperdine Watertown, MN G 13 Bowen Born 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Norwalk Norwalk, IA F 15 Michael Duax  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Hempstead Dubuque, IA F 20 Chase Courbat  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Cedar Falls Cedar Falls, IA G 22 Antwan Kimmons 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Tartan Oakdale, MN F 23 Derek Krogmann (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Fr West Delaware Manchester, IA F 32 Tytan Anderson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr North Scott Eldridge, IA F 33 Drew Daniel (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Dowling Catholic West Des Moines, IA F 34 James Betz 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Garner–Hayfield–Ventura Ventura, IA F 35 Noah Carter 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Dubuque Senior Dubuque, IA F 50 Austin Phyfe 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS Jr Waverly-Shell Rock Waverly, IA	Head coach Ben Jacobson (North Dakota) Assistant coach(es) P. J. Hogan (Morningside) Erik Crawford (Iowa State) Seth Tuttle (Northern Iowa) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3		Nicholls	L 58–62	0–1	McLeod Center (2,328) Cedar Falls, IA
November 11, 2021* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		Vermont	L 57–71	0–2	McLeod Center (1,773) Cedar Falls, IA
November 14, 2021* 5:00 p.m., ESPN3		Dubuque	W 95–58	1–2	McLeod Center (1,307) Cedar Falls, IA
November 17, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 16 Arkansas	L 80–92	1–3	Bud Walton Arena (19,200) Fayetteville, AR
November 27, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 16 St. Bonaventure	W 90–80	2–3	Reilly Center (4,296) Olean, NY
December 1, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Bradley	L 69–71	2–4 (0–1)	Carver Arena (3,551) Peoria, IL
December 5, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Richmond	L 52–60	2–5	McLeod Center (2,337) Cedar Falls, IA
December 14, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Jackson State	W 66–56	3–5	McLeod Center (1,679) Cedar Falls, IA
December 18, 2021* 3:00 p.m., Stadium		at Marshall	W 75–60	4–5	Cam Henderson Center (3,849) Huntington, WV
December 22, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPNU		vs. Liberty Diamond Head Classic First Round	L 74–76	4–6	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
December 23, 2021* 5:30 p.m., ESPNU		vs. Wyoming Diamond Head Classic Consolation 2nd Round	L 69–71	4–7	Stan Sheriff Center (3,951) Honolulu, HI
December 25, 2021* 2:30 pm, ESPNU		vs. Hawaii Diamond Head Classic 7th place game	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
December 29, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3		Wartburg	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		McLeod Center  Cedar Falls, IA
January 2, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Evansville	W 83–61	5–7 (1–1)	McLeod Center (1,587) Cedar Falls, IA
January 5, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		Valparaiso	W 92–65	6–7 (2–1)	McLeod Center (1,387) Cedar Falls, IA
January 8, 2022 5:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Missouri State	W 85–84	7–7 (3–1)	JQH Arena (3,352) Springfield, MO
January 11, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Indiana State	W 80–74 OT	8–7 (4–1)	McLeod Center (1,797) Cedar Falls, IA
January 15, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Southern Illinois	W 69–68	9–7 (5–1)	Banterra Center (4,690) Carbondale, IL
January 19, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Valparaiso	L 80–83 OT	9–8 (5–2)	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,414) Valparaiso, IN
January 22, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPNU		Drake	L 74–82 OT	9–9 (5–3)	McLeod Center (4,361) Cedar Falls, IA
January 26, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Evansville	W 64–59	10–9 (6–3)	Ford Center (2,770) Evansville, IN
January 29, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Illinois State	W 79–64	11–9 (7–3)	McLeod Center (2,669) Cedar Falls, IA
February 2, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Bradley	W 78–65	12–9 (8–3)	McLeod Center (2,655) Cedar Falls, IA
February 5, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Drake	W 74–69 OT	13–9 (9–3)	Knapp Center (5,984) Des Moines, IA
February 9, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Southern Illinois	W 53–44	14–9 (10–3)	McLeod Center (2,300) Cedar Falls, IA
February 13, 2022 3:00 p.m., ESPN2		at Loyola–Chicago	L 58–85	14–10 (10–4)	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,019) Chicago, IL
February 15, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Illinois State	W 72–70	15–10 (11–4)	Redbird Arena (3,039) Normal, IL
February 20, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN2		Missouri State	W 95–75	16–10 (12–4)	McLeod Center (3,353) Cedar Falls, IA
February 23, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Indiana State	W 88–82	17–10 (13–4)	Hulman Center (3,684) Terre Haute, IN
February 26, 2022 5:00 p.m., ESPNU		Loyola–Chicago	W 102–96 OT	18–10 (14–4)	McLeod Center (6,497) Cedar Falls, IA
MVC tournament
March 4, 2022 12:00 p.m., MVC TV	(1)	vs. (8) Illinois State Quarterfinals	W 78–65	19–10	Enterprise Center  St. Louis, MO
March 5, 2022 2:30 p.m., CBSSN	(1)	vs. (4) Loyola–Chicago Semifinals	L 43–66	19–11	Enterprise Center  St. Louis, MO
NIT
March 16, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at (3) Saint Louis First Round – SMU Bracket	W 80–68	20–11	Chaifetz Arena (3,521) St. Louis, MO
March 19, 2022* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2		at (2) BYU Second Round – SMU Bracket	L 71–90	20–12	Marriott Center (7,554) Provo, UT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[5]