2015–16 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

2015–16 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Second Round
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record23–13 (11–7 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Erik Crawford
  • Kyle Green
  • P.J. Hogan
Home arenaMcLeod Center
Seasons
2015–16 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Wichita State 16 2   .889 26 9   .743
Evansville 12 6   .667 25 9   .735
Illinois State 12 6   .667 18 14   .563
Southern Illinois 11 7   .611 22 10   .688
Northern Iowa 11 7   .611 23 13   .639
Indiana State 8 10   .444 15 17   .469
Missouri State 8 10   .444 13 19   .406
Loyola Chicago 7 11   .389 15 17   .469
Bradley 3 15   .167 5 27   .156
Drake 2 16   .111 7 24   .226
2016 MVC tournament winner

The 2015–16 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by tenth year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at the McLeod Center and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference (The Valley). They finished the 23–13, 11–7 in Missouri Valley play to finish in a tie for fourth place. The Panthers defeated Southern Illinois, Wichita State, and Evansville to win the Missouri Valley tournament and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a No. 11 seed, they defeated Texas in the first round to advance to the second round, where they lost to the Texas A&M Aggies in double overtime after suffering the greatest collapse in NCAA Tournament history, blowing a 12 point lead with 35 seconds left in regulation.[1][2]

Previous season

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The Panthers' starting five huddle during their December 5 game vs. Richmond.

The Panthers finished the 2014–15 season 31–4, 16–2 in MVC play to finish in second place. They defeated Bradley, Loyola–Chicago, and Illinois State to win the Missouri Valley tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In the Tournament, they defeated Wyoming in the second round before losing in the Third Round to Louisville.

Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Nate Buss 14 F 6'9" 212 Senior Charles City, IA Graduated
Max Martino 24 G 6'5" 215 Senior Cedar Rapids, IA Graduated
Deon Mitchell 1 G 6'1" 196 Senior Pflugerville, TX Graduated
Marvin Singleton 12 F 6'6" 237 Senior Minneapolis, MN Graduated
Seth Tuttle 10 F 6'8" 220 Senior Sheffield, IA Graduated

Incoming Transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Aarias Austin 1 G 6'4" 180 Junior Gurnee, IL Junior college transfer from Des Moines Area Community College.

Incoming recruits

[edit]
College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Luke McDonnell
PF
Dubuque, IA Dubuque Senior High School 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sep 18, 2013 
Star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Spencer Haldeman
PG
Epworth, IA Western Dubuque High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) May 12, 2014 
Star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Justin Dahl
C
Eden Prairie, MN Holy Family Catholic High School 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Aug 8, 2014 
Star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Lincoln Conrey
SF
Waterloo, IA Waterloo West High School 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (100 kg) Apr 15, 2015 
Star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
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:

  • "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 25, 2014.

2016 recruiting class

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College recruiting information (2016)
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Juwan McCloud
PG
Germantown, WI Germantown High School 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 150 lb (68 kg) May 9, 2015 
Star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
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:

Roster

[edit]
2015–16 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Aarias Austin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Des Moines Area CC
Warren Township
Gurnee, IL
F 2 Klint Carlson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS So Waverly-Shell Rock Waverly, IA
C 3 Ted Friedman 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS So Ankeny Ankeny, IA
G 4 Paul Jesperson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 206 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Virginia
Merrill
Merrill, WI
G 5 Matt Bohannon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Linn-Mar Marion, IA
G 11 Wes Washpun 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Washington Cedar Rapids, IA
F 12 Lincoln Conrey 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Waterloo West Waterloo, IA
C 15 Justin Dahl 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Holy Family Carver, MN
G 20 Jeremy Morgan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Jr Iowa City West Coralville, IA
G 22 Robert Knar 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So Mundelein Mundelein, IL
F 25 Bennett Koch 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 232 lb (105 kg) RS So Ashwaubenon Ashwaubenon, WI
G 30 Spencer Haldeman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Western Dubuque Peosta, IA
G 33 Wyatt Lohaus 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Iowa City West North Liberty, IA
F 35 Luke McDonnell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Dubuque Senior Dubuque, IA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[edit]

[3]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/01/2015*
4:00 pm
Truman State W 70–50 
McLeod Center (4,455)
Cedar Falls, IA
Non-conference regular season
11/14/2015*
11:00 am
Colorado State
MW–MVC Challenge
L 78–84  0–1
McLeod Center (4,455)
Cedar Falls, IA
11/17/2015*
7:00 am, ESPN2
Stephen F. Austin
College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon
W 70–60  1–1
McLeod Center (4,720)
Cedar Falls, IA
11/21/2015*
1:00 pm, ESPN3
No. 1 North Carolina W 71–67  2–1
McLeod Center (7,018)
Cedar Falls, IA
11/25/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Dubuque W 83–63  3–1
McLeod Center (4,578)
Cedar Falls, IA
11/28/2015*
2:00 pm, MidcoSN
at North Dakota W 97–51  4–1
Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,302)
Grand Forks, ND
11/30/2015*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
North Texas W 93–70  5–1
McLeod Center 
Cedar Falls, IA
12/05/2015*
5:00 pm, CSN
at Richmond L 67–82  5–2
Robins Center (6,323)
Richmond, VA
12/08/2015*
6:00 pm, ASN
at George Mason W 73–65  6–2
EagleBank Arena (4,102)
Fairfax, VA
12/12/2015*
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at New Mexico
Diamond Head Classic mainland round
L 57–76  6–3
The Pit (13,154)
Albuquerque, NM
12/19/2015*
6:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. No. 5 Iowa State
Big Four Classic
W 81–79  7–3
Wells Fargo Arena (15,424)
Des Moines, IA
12/22/2015*
12:30 am, ESPN2
at Hawaiʻi
Diamond Head Classic quarterfinals
L 52–68  7–4
Stan Sheriff Center (8,463)
Honolulu, HI
12/23/2015*
10:30 pm, ESPNU
vs. Washington State
Diamond Head Classic consolation
W 63–59  8–4
Stan Sheriff Center (7,365)
Honolulu, HI
12/25/2015*
2:30 pm, ESPNU
vs. BYU
Diamond Head Classic 5th place game
L 76–84  8–5
Stan Sheriff Center (6,172)
Honolulu, HI
Missouri Valley Conference regular season
12/30/2015
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Bradley W 80–44  9–5
(1–0)
McLeod Center (5,230)
Cedar Falls, IA
01/02/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Southern Illinois L 73–75  9–6
(1–1)
SIU Arena (6,106)
Carbondale, IL
01/06/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Missouri State L 58–59  9–7
(1–2)
JQH Arena (4,297)
Springfield, MO
01/09/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Drake W 77–44  10–7
(2–2)
McLeod Center (5,105)
Cedar Falls, IA
01/13/2016
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Indiana State L 60–74  10–8
(2–3)
Hulman Center (3,544)
Terre Haute, IN
01/16/2016
3:00 pm, ESPN3
Loyola–Chicago L 41–51  10–9
(2–4)
McLeod Center (6,033)
Cedar Falls, IA
01/20/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Wichita State L 55–74  10–10
(2–5)
McLeod Center (5,425)
Cedar Falls, IA
01/23/2016
3:00 pm
at Illinois State L 67–76  10–11
(2–6)
Redbird Arena (7,103)
Normal, IL
01/27/2016
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at Bradley W 68–50  11–11
(3–6)
Carver Arena (5,334)
Peoria, IL
01/31/2016
3:00 pm, ESPN3
Southern Illinois W 67–58  12–11
(4–6)
McLeod Center (5,275)
Cedar Falls, IA
02/03/2016
6:00 pm, ESPN3
Evansville W 57–54  13–11
(5–6)
McLeod Center (4,805)
Cedar Falls, IA
02/06/2016
1:00 pm, CBSSN
at Drake W 82–66  14–11
(6–6)
Knapp Center (4,724)
Des Moines, IA
02/10/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Missouri State W 83–69  15–11
(7–6)
McLeod Center (5,755)
Cedar Falls, IA
02/13/2016
11:00 am, ESPN2
at No. 25 Wichita State W 53–50  16–11
(8–6)
Charles Koch Arena (10,506)
Wichita, KS
02/17/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Loyola–Chicago L 56–59  16–12
(8–7)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,690)
Chicago, IL
02/20/2016
3:00 pm, CBSSN
Illinois State W 75–66  17–12
(9–7)
McLeod Center (6,145)
Cedar Falls, IA
02/24/2016
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Indiana State W 66–44  18–12
(10–7)
McLeod Center (5,911)
Cedar Falls, IA
02/27/2016
1:00 pm, ESPN3
at Evansville W 54–52  19–12
(11–7)
Ford Center (6,552)
Evansville, IN
Missouri Valley tournament
03/04/2016
2:30 pm, ESPN3
(4) vs. (5) Southern Illinois
Quarterfinals
W 66–60  20–12
Scottrade Center (10,560)
St. Louis, MO
03/05/2016
2:30 pm, CBSSN
(4) vs. (1) Wichita State
Semifinals
W 57–52 OT 21–12
Scottrade Center (14,299)
St. Louis, MO
03/06/2016
1:00 pm, CBS
(4) vs. (2) Evansville
Championship
W 56–54  22–12
Scottrade Center (14,299)
St. Louis, MO
NCAA tournament
03/18/2016*
8:50 pm, TBS
(11 W) vs. (6 W) Texas
First Round
W 75–72  23–12
Chesapeake Energy Arena (15,279)
Oklahoma City, OK
03/20/2016*
6:40 pm, truTV
(11 W) vs. (3 W) No. 15 Texas A&M
Second Round
L 88–92 2OT 23–13
Chesapeake Energy Arena (15,279)
Oklahoma City, OK
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
W=West Region.
All times are in Central Time.

References

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