Panthers will face SMU on Wednesday night in first round on ESPN2
By Joel Wauters/UNI Athletics
UNI men’s basketball (20-12 / 14-6 MVC) at SMU (23-10 / 13-7 ACC) [NIT Tournament – First Round]
8 p.m. CT | March 19, 2025
Dallas, Tex. | Moody Coliseum
ESPN2
Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Kevin Boyle: Analyst)
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The UNI men’s basketball team will make its third appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) this week as the program was selected and paired on Sunday to face off against SMU in a first-round matchup at Moody Arena in Dallas.
The Panthers (20-12, 14-6 MVC) and Mustangs will take the court on Wednesday, March 19 at 8 p.m. CT with the game being broadcast on ESPN2 and the Panther Sports Radio Network. Wednesday’s victor will take on the winner of Oklahoma State and Wichita State in the second round.
UNI will make its 20th appearance in a national postseason tournament and first since playing in the NIT in 2022. In its last appearance three years ago, Northern Iowa defeated Saint Louis on the road in the opening round before falling at BYU. UNI has also made 11 NCAA Tournaments in its history (eight coming at the Division I level), as well as four NAIA National Tournaments (1946, 1948, 1949, 1953), and a pair of appearances in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) in 2011 and 2013.
The Panthers enter this year’s NIT with a 20-12 record following a third-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) standings. Northern Iowa was among four MVC teams to reach at least 20 wins this year and joins Drake (NCAA), Bradley (NIT) and Illinois State (CBI) as Valley postseason teams this March.
Senior forward Tytan Anderson leads the Panther squad after earning First Team All-MVC and MVC All-Defensive Team honors as UNI’s leader in scoring, rebounds and blocks. Junior guard Trey Campbell was a Third Team All-MVC selection and posted a team-high 68 made three-point field goals and 94 assists, while Jacob Hutson and Ben Schwieger all averaged over ten points a game as well.
SMU, who finished 23-10 overall this season and in a tie for fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with a 13-7 record, will make its seventh NIT appearance and fourth in the last five seasons. The Mustangs, led by Third Team All-ACC guard Boopie Miller and all-conference defensive team member BJ Edwards, defeated Syracuse before falling to Clemson in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament.
Wednesday will be the fourth all-time meeting between Northern Iowa and SMU on the court with the Mustangs leading the series, 2-1. The Panthers bested the Mustangs in their previous matchup in November 2017 in the opening game of the Battle 4 Atlantis, and last met in the postseason in the quarterfinals of the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT), a game won by SMU by seven points.