# 2014–15 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 2014–15 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by ninth year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at McLeod Center and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference (The Valley). They finished the season 31–4, 16–2 in MVC play to finish in second place. They defeated Bradley, Loyola–Chicago, and Illinois State to become champions of the Missouri Valley tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Wyoming in the second round before losing in the third round to Louisville.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the season 16–15, 10–8 in MVC play to finish in third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament to Southern Illinois.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Chip Rank | 4 | F | 6'6" | 235 | Senior | Cedarburg, WI | Graduated |
| Nate Buchheit | 15 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Pella, IA | Graduated |
| Matt Morrison | 21 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Senior | Solon, IA | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Kasey Semler | 13 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Junior | Cedar Rapids, IA | Junior college transfer from Kirkwood Community College. |

## Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Wyatt Lohaus PG | Iowa City, IA | West High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Aug 9, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 66 ||||||
| 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: "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 25, 2014. ||||||

### Class of 2015 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) | N/A | May 12, 2014 |
| 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. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/30/2014* 7:00 pm | | Upper Iowa | W 83–66 | | McLeod Center (3,825) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 11/09/2014* 1:00 pm | | Bemidji State | W 64–45 | | McLeod Center (2,121) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Non-Conference Regular season ||||||
| 11/15/2014* 1:00 pm | | North Dakota | W 64–52 | 1–0 | McLeod Center (3,716) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 11/18/2014* 8:00 am, ESPN2 | | at Stephen F. Austin ESPN Tip-Off Marathon | W 79–77 $^{OT}$ | 2–0 | William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,096) Nacogdoches, TX |
| 11/20/2014* 7:00 pm | | Morgan State Cancún Challenge | W 73–53 | 3–0 | McLeod Center (3,127) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 11/22/2014* 1:00 pm | | North Florida Cancún Challenge | W 66–49 | 4–0 | McLeod Center (3,220) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 11/25/2014* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Virginia Tech Cancún Challenge semifinals | W 73–54 | 5–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (650) Cancún, MX |
| 11/26/2014* 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Northwestern Cancún Challenge championship | W 61–42 | 6–0 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (650) Cancún, MX |
| 11/30/2014* 2:00 pm | | Richmond | W 55–50 | 7–0 | McLeod Center (3,081) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 12/06/2014* 7:00 pm | | George Mason | W 71–65 | 8–0 | McLeod Center (4,525) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 12/10/2014* 8:00 pm | No. 23 | at Denver | W 65–55 | 9–0 | Magness Arena (1,545) Denver, CO |
| 12/13/2014* 6:00 pm, NBCSN | No. 23 | at VCU | L 87–93 $^{2OT}$ | 9–1 | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| 12/20/2014* 6:30 pm, BTN | | vs. Iowa Big Four Classic | W 56–44 | 10–1 | Wells Fargo Arena (15,124) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/28/2014* 2:00 pm | No. 23 | South Dakota State | W 74–63 | 11–1 | McLeod Center (6,333) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Missouri Valley Conference Regular season ||||||
| 01/01/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 23 | at Evansville | L 49–52 | 11–2 (0–1) | Ford Center (5,151) Evansville, IN |
| 01/04/2015 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | No. 23 | Loyola–Chicago | W 67–58 | 12–2 (1–1) | McLeod Center (5,111) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/07/2015 7:00 pm, KCRG | | Southern Illinois | W 55–39 | 13–2 (2–1) | McLeod Center (3,910) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/10/2015 3:00 pm, MVC TV | | at Drake | W 64–40 | 14–2 (3–1) | Knapp Center (4,780) Des Moines, IA |
| 01/13/2015 7:00 pm | No. 23 | at Bradley | W 63–52 | 15–2 (4–1) | Carver Arena (5,129) Peoria, IL |
| 01/18/2015 3:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 23 | Missouri State | W 60–46 | 16–2 (5–1) | McLeod Center (4,941) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/21/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 20 | Indiana State | W 66–60 | 17–2 (6–1) | McLeod Center (6,205) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/25/2015 3:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 20 | at Illinois State | W 54–53 | 18–2 (7–1) | Redbird Arena (6,118) Normal, IL |
| 01/28/2015 7:00 pm | No. 18 | at Southern Illinois | W 59–52 | 19–2 (8–1) | SIU Arena (5,267) Carbondale, IL |
| 01/31/2015 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 18 | No. 12 Wichita State | W 70–54 | 20–2 (9–1) | McLeod Center (7,050) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/03/2015 6:00 pm | No. 14 | at Indiana State | W 61–51 | 21–2 (10–1) | Hulman Center (4,595) Terre Haute, IN |
| 02/07/2015 7:00 pm, KCRG/CSN Chicago | No. 14 | Drake | W 69–53 | 22–2 (11–1) | McLeod Center (6,650) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/11/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 13 | Illinois State | W 83–64 | 23–2 (12–1) | McLeod Center (6,103) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/15/2015 3:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 13 | at Missouri State | W 68–57 | 24–2 (13–1) | JQH Arena (5,452) Springfield, MO |
| 02/18/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 11 | at Loyola–Chicago | W 58–39 | 25–2 (14–1) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,725) Chicago, IL |
| 02/21/2015 3:00 pm, MVC TV | No. 11 | Bradley | W 56–39 | 26–2 (15–1) | McLeod Center (6,650) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/25/2015 8:00 pm, MVC TV | No. 10 | Evansville | W 68–57 | 27–2 (16–1) | McLeod Center (6,935) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/28/2015 2:00 pm, ESPN | No. 10 | at No. 11 Wichita State ESPN College GameDay | L 60–74 | 27–3 (16–2) | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| 03/06/2015 6:05 pm, MVC TV/ESPN3 | (2) No. 11 | vs. (10) Bradley Quarterfinals | W 71–46 | 28–3 | Scottrade Center (N/A) St. Louis, MO |
| 03/07/2015 4:05 pm, MVC TV/ESPN3 | (2) No. 11 | vs. (6) Loyola–Chicago Semifinals | W 63–49 | 29–3 | Scottrade Center (13,898) St. Louis, MO |
| 03/08/2015 1:05 pm, CBS | (2) No. 11 | vs. (4) Illinois State Championship game | W 69–60 | 30–3 | Scottrade Center (13,552) St. Louis, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/20/2015* 12:40 pm, TBS | (5 E) No. 11 | vs. (12 E) Wyoming Second round | W 71–54 | 31–3 | KeyArena (14,509) Seattle, WA |
| 03/22/2015* 8:40 pm, TBS | (5 E) No. 11 | vs. (4 E) No. 17 Louisville Third round | L 53–66 | 31–4 | KeyArena (14,901) Seattle, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region E=East. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██NR = Not Ranked. RV = Receiving Votes. :
| Poll | Pre- Season | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19 | Final |
| AP | NR | RV | RV | RV | 23 | RV | 23 | 23 | RV | 23 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | N/A |
| Coaches | NR | NR | RV | RV | 24 | RV | 24 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 14 |
| Mid-Major | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | |