# 2015–16 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

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.

## Previous season

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

| 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

| 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

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/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

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| 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 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 24, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule

| 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. ||||||