Following a convincing victory over UIC to end the regular season, the University of Northern Iowa men’s basketball team traveled to St. Louis to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Since UNI secured the No. 3 seed in the tournament, the Panthers had a first-round bye, meaning they would face the winner of No. 6 UIC and No. 11 Valparaiso in the second round.
Valparaiso defeated UIC 67-50 on Friday, March 7, meaning they would face Northern Iowa the following day. After losing to Valparaiso 73-80 in their lone season meeting, the Panthers looked to outshine the Beacons in Arch Madness. However, despite a near-unfathomable comeback, UNI could not overcome Valparaiso’s hot shooting to start the game. The Panthers lost 63-64, ending their time in the MVC tournament.
After jumping out to an 11-3 lead midway through the first half, Northern Iowa appeared to be in control of the game. An emphatic Will Hornseth dunk with 12:30 left forced Valparaiso to call a timeout and regroup. Hornseth finished with 6 points off the bench in the freshman’s first postseason career action.
Although the timeout hindered UNI’s run, the Panthers still led 18-14 at the 8:16 mark of the first half. Then, Valparaiso found its shooting touch.
The Beacons drained five 3-pointers on six attempts entering the break. Trey Campbell tried to combat Valparaiso with a triple of his own, but the Panthers’ lead quickly slipped away. Thanks to a couple of and-one baskets courtesy of Tytan Anderson, UNI was fortunate only to be trailing 32-45 as they headed to the locker room.
Valparaiso opened the second half with another 3-pointer, looking to continue its long-range push against the Panthers. Yet, a tandem of Ben Schwieger and Max Weisbrod layups weathered the storm for UNI, who started to see a glimmer of light.
With 14:46 left to play, Weisbrod put home another layup to bring the Panthers within 17 points of Valparaiso at 39-56. Weisbrod’s basket catapulted a 20-0 Northern Iowa scoring run headlined by Anderson and Cael Schmitt. The two seniors scored 15 of the Panthers’ 18 points following Weisbrod’s layup until the 6:42 mark. Schmitt made the biggest shot of his UNI career with 8:11 remaining, drilling a right-wing three to give his team their first lead since there was 6:49 left in the first half.
Valparaiso finally ended their drought with a mid-range shot and layup to take back the lead. But Schwieger connected on a jumper off a Campbell assist to bring UNI within one point as the squads entered crunch time.
With Northern Iowa trailing 62-64, head coach Ben Jacobsen turned to Anderson for the tying bucket. As the clock crept below one minute, the All-MVC first-teamer drove hard to the rim before being fouled with 39 seconds left. Anderson made one of his two free throw attempts, his final basket of the night. He finished with a team-high 22 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
After Anderson’s miss, UNI secured a defensive stop before advancing the ball into the halfcourt and calling a timeout with 3.5 seconds remaining. Anderson again got a look at the hoop but attempted a layup that missed the iron. The ball fell into Campbell’s lap, who also missed the putback. Northern Iowa’s madness had run out, and Valparaiso advanced with a 64-63 win.
