2019–20 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by 14th-year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 25–6, 14–4 in MVC play to win the MVC regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament to Drake. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they were set to receive an automatic bid to NIT. However, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

2019–20 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball
Missouri Valley regular season champions
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	25–6 (14–4 MVC)
Head coach	Ben Jacobson (14th season)
Assistant coaches	P. J. Hogan Erik Crawford Kyle Green
Home arena	McLeod Center

2019–20 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Northern Iowa	14	–	4		.778			25	–	6		.806
Loyola Chicago	13	–	5		.722			21	–	11		.656
Indiana State	11	–	7		.611			18	–	12		.600
Bradley †	11	–	7		.611			23	–	11		.676
Southern Illinois	10	–	8		.556			16	–	16		.500
Missouri State	9	–	9		.500			16	–	17		.485
Valparaiso	9	–	9		.500			19	–	16		.543
Drake	8	–	10		.444			20	–	14		.588
Illinois State	5	–	13		.278			10	–	21		.323
Evansville	0	–	18		.000			9	–	23		.281
† 2020 MVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2018–19 season 16–18, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the MVC tournament, they beat Southern Illinois and Drake before losing to Bradley in the championship.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Tray Croft	5	G	6'1"	170	Junior	Anniston, AL	Transferred to Wisconsin–Parkside
Miles Wentzien	10	G	6'3"	190	Senior	Fort Madison, IA	Walk-on; graduated
Wyatt Lohaus	22	G	6'2"	192	RS Senior	North Liberty, IA	Graduated

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
James Betz PF	Garner, IA	Garner–Hayfield High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Aug 11, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Cole Henry SG	Oskaloosa, IA	Oskaloosa High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Aug 13, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Noah Carter PF	Dubuque, IA	Dubuque Senior High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jun 27, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: N/A
Antwan Kimmons PG	Saint Paul, MN	Tartan High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)
	Recruiting 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019.

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2020 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Tytan Anderson PG	Eldridge, IA	North Scott Senior High School	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	N/A	Aug 14, 2018
	Recruiting 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: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019.

Roster

2019–20 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 1 Cole Henry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Oskaloosa Oskaloosa, IA G 3 Tywhon Pickford 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Jr Maple Grove Minneapolis, MN G 4 A. J. Green 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Cedar Falls Cedar Falls, IA G 10 Logan Wolf (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Cedar Falls Cedar Falls, IA G 11 Trae Berhow 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Watertown Mayer Pepperdine Watertown, MN F 12 Lincoln Conrey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 203 lb (92 kg) RS Sr Waterloo West Waterloo, IA G 13 Evan Gauger (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Indianola Indianola, IA C 15 Justin Dahl 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 261 lb (118 kg) RS Sr Holy Family Carver, MN F 20 Shandon Goldman 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Lincoln Chipola College Evansville, AR G 22 Antwan Kimmons 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Tartan Oakdale, MN F 23 Derek Krogmann (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr West Delaware West Delaware, IA G 24 Isaiah Brown 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Flower Mound Flower Mound, TX G 30 Spencer Haldeman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Sr Western Dubuque Peosta, IA F 32 James Betz 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Garner–Hayfield–Ventura West Delaware, IA F 34 Luke McDonnell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 212 lb (96 kg) RS Sr Dubuque Senior Dubuque, IA F 35 Noah Carter 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Dubuque Senior Dubuque, IA F 50 Austin Phyfe 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Waverly-Shell Rock Waverly, IA	Head coach Ben Jacobson (North Dakota) Assistant coach(es) P. J. Hogan (Morningside) Erik Crawford (Iowa State) Kyle Green (Hamline) 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
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN+		Old Dominion	W 58–53	1–0	McLeod Center (3,705) Cedar Falls, IA
November 9, 2019* 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Northern Illinois	W 64–54	2–0	Convocation Center (1,003) DeKalb, IL
November 13, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Cal State Bakersfield	W 67–55	3–0	McLeod Center (3,151) Cedar Falls, IA
November 16, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPN3		Northern Colorado Cancún Challenge campus site game	W 77–72	4–0	McLeod Center (3,580) Cedar Falls, IA
November 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN+		UT Martin Cancún Challenge campus site game	W 87–67	5–0	McLeod Center (3,128) Cedar Falls, IA
November 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Cornell (IA)	W 88–66	6–0	McLeod Center (3,171) Cedar Falls, IA
November 26, 2019* 7:30 pm, CBSSN		vs. West Virginia Cancún Challenge Riviera semifinal	L 55–60	6–1	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,478) Cancún, Mexico
November 27, 2019* 5:00 pm, CBSSN		vs. South Carolina Cancún Challenge Riviera Consolation	W 78–72	7–1	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,176) Cancún, Mexico
December 2, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Luther College	W 110–51	8–1	McLeod Center (3,088) Cedar Falls, IA
December 10, 2019* 8:00 pm, P12N		at No. 24 Colorado	W 79–76	9–1	CU Events Center (6,570) Boulder, CO
December 12, 2019* 8:00 pm, ESPN3		at Grand Canyon	W 82–58	10–1	GCU Arena (7,186) Phoenix, AZ
December 22, 2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Marshall	W 88–80	11–1	McLeod Center (4,648) Cedar Falls, IA
Missouri Valley Conference regular season
December 31, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Illinois State	L 70–76	11–2 (0–1)	Redbird Arena (5,190) Normal, IL
January 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPNU		Bradley	W 69–64	12–2 (1–1)	McLeod Center (4,269) Cedar Falls, IA
January 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Indiana State	W 68–60	13–2 (2–1)	McLeod Center (3,697) Cedar Falls, IA
January 11, 2020 3:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI/ESPN+		at Missouri State	W 80–57	14–2 (3–1)	JQH Arena (3,520) Springfield, MO
January 15, 2020 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN+		Valparaiso	W 88–78	15–2 (4–1)	McLeod Center (4,057) Cedar Falls, IA
January 18, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN2		at Bradley	W 86–71	16–2 (5–1)	Carver Arena (6,774) Peoria, IL
January 22, 2020 8:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI/ESPN+		at Southern Illinois	L 66–68	16–3 (5–2)	SIU Arena (4,319) Carbondale, IL
January 26, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPNU		Loyola–Chicago	W 67–62 OT	17–3 (6–2)	McLeod Center (5,145) Cedar Falls, IA
January 29, 2020 6:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI/ESPN+		Missouri State	W 95–66	18–3 (7–2)	McLeod Center (4,076) Cedar Falls, IA
February 1, 2020 1:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI/ESPN3		at Evansville	W 80–68	19–3 (8–2)	Ford Center (4,669) Evansville, IN
February 5, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Valparaiso	W 63–51	20–3 (9–2)	Athletics–Recreation Center (2,030) Valparaiso, IN
February 8, 2020 3:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI		Drake	W 83–73	21–3 (10–2)	McLeod Center (6,497) Cedar Falls, IA
February 12, 2020 7:00 pm, PSN		Illinois State	W 71–63	22–3 (11–2)	McLeod Center (4,477) Cedar Falls, IA
February 15, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2		at Loyola–Chicago	L 73–82 OT	22–4 (11–3)	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,963) Chicago, IL
February 20, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Indiana State	L 64–67	22–5 (11–4)	Hulman Center (3,765) Terre Haute, IN
February 23, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPNU		Southern Illinois	W 64–52	23–5 (12–4)	McLeod Center (6,497) Cedar Falls, IA
February 26, 2020 7:00PM, PSN/ESPN+		Evansville	W 84–64	24–5 (13–4)	McLeod Center (4,934) Cedar Falls, IA
February 29, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN2		at Drake	W 70–43	25–5 (14–4)	Knapp Center (7,152) Des Moines, IA
Missouri Valley tournament
March 6, 2020 12:05 pm, ESPN+	(1)	vs. (8) Drake Quarterfinals	L 56–77	25–6	Enterprise Center (7,399) St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source

Panther Sports Network (PSN) Cedar Falls Utilities Ch. 15/HD415; KCRG-TV Ch. 9.2; WHO-DT Ch. 13.2; KGCW Ch. 26, (NBC Sports Chicago or NBCSC+)