Northern Iowa and Drake will both be fighting for a pivotal Missouri Valley Conference victory when they square off on Wednesday night. The Panthers had their three-game winning streak snapped in a loss to Indiana State on Saturday, falling to third place in the conference standings. Drake has won six of its last seven games and is also in third place in the MVC.
Northern Iowa got off to a rough start to the season, losing seven of its first 10 games. The Panthers have responded with an excellent stretch since then, winning nine of their last 12 games. Their three losses during that stretch have come against Missouri State, Belmont and Indiana State. All three of those teams have winning records within the conference. Northern Iowa had won three straight games prior to its 79-71 loss to Indiana State as a 6-point underdog on Saturday. It is now sitting in a tie for third place in the Missouri Valley standings, as Drake and Bradley are both 8-4 as well. The Panthers are one game back of conference-leading Southern Illinois and Belmont.
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Listen to Coach Jake on how the crowd can impact the game ?? ?????????????? ???????? help make an impa ct!
Join us at 5 PM on Saturday & be a difference-maker.
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— UNI Basketball (@UNImbb) January 30, 2023
They have been a decent shooting team this season, ranked No. 121 in the country in effective field goal percentage (51.5). Northern Iowa’s primary weakness offensively has been its rebounding, as it ranks No. 304 in offensive rebounding percentage. The Panthers are one of the shortest and most inexperienced teams in college basketball. They are facing an experienced Drake defense that is No. 13 in rebounding and No. 50 in overall efficiency. Sophomore guard Bown Born leads Northern Iowa with 18.8 points and 2.8 assists per game, while sophomore guard Tytan Anderson is adding 13.2 points and 9.4 rebounds.
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