# 2016–17 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by eleventh year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, IA as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the regular season 14–16, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 3 seed in the MVC tournament, they lost to Missouri State in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished 2015–16 season with a record of 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 Texas A&M.

## Preseason

The Panthers were picked to finish in third place in the MVC preseason poll. Jeremy Morgan was selected as preseason Missouri Valley Conference player of the year.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Aarias Austin | 1 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Junior | Gurnee, IL | Transferred to Minnesota State |
| Paul Jesperson | 4 | G | 6'0" | 206 | RS Senior | Merrill, WI | Graduated |
| Matt Bohannon | 5 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Senior | Marion, IA | Graduated |
| Wes Washpun | 11 | G | 6'1" | 175 | Senior | Cedar Rapids, IA | Graduated |
| Robert Kanar | 22 | G | 6'1" | 180 | RS Sophomore | Mundelein, IL | Transferred to Missouri–Kansas City |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Hunter Rhodes | 21 | G | 6'0" | 175 | Junior | Canton, IL | Junior college transferred from Kirkwood CC |
| Jordan Ashton | 23 | G | 6'4" | 195 | RS Senior | Mount Pleantsant, MI | Transferred from Iowa State. Will be eligible to play immediately since Ashton graduated from Iowa State. |

## 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| 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 ||||||
| Isaiah Brown PG | Flower Mound, TX | Flower Mound High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 15, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Tanner Lohaus SF | North Liberty, IA | West High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | May 19, 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 August 31, 2016. ||||||

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Austin Phyfe PF | Waverly, IA | Waverly-Shell Rock High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Nov 5, 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 31, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/28/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Bemidji State | W 71–48 | | McLeod Center (3,737) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/12/2016* 11:00 am, ESPN3 | | Coe | W 74–37 | 1–0 | McLeod Center (4,053) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 11/17/2016* 3:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Arizona State Tire Pros Invitational quarterfinals | W 82–63 | 2–0 | HP Field House Orlando, FL |
| 11/18/2016* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Oklahoma Tire Pros Invitational semifinals | W 73–67 $^{OT}$ | 3–0 | HP Field House Orlando, FL |
| 11/20/2016* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 11 Xavier Tire Pros Invitational championship | L 59–67 | 3–1 | HP Field House Orlando, FL |
| 11/26/2016* 11:00 am, FSN | | at No. 9 Xavier Tire Pros Invitational non-bracketed game | L 42–64 | 3–2 | Cintas Center (10,028) Cincinnati, OH |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN3 | | George Mason | L 50–54 | 3–3 | McLeod Center (4,302) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 12/03/2016* 5:00 pm, Campus Insiders/MWN | | at Wyoming MW–MVC Challenge | L 73–81 | 3–4 | Arena-Auditorium (5,539) Laramie, WY |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN3 | | South Dakota State | W 86–58 | 4–4 | McLeod Center (3,922) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 12/10/2016* 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN3 | | North Dakota | W 78–70 | 5–4 | McLeod Center (4,521) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 12/17/2016* 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Iowa Big Four Classic | L 46–69 | 5–5 | Wells Fargo Arena (15,028) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/21/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 8 North Carolina | L 42–85 | 5–6 | Dean Smith Center (18,033) Chapel Hill, NC |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2016 8:00 pm, FSMW/CSNC | | Missouri State | L 64–68 | 5–7 (0–1) | McLeod Center (5,448) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/01/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Evansville | L 58–70 | 5–8 (0–2) | Ford Center (5,277) Evansville, IN |
| 01/04/2017 6:00 pm, CSNC | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 66–77 | 5–9 (0–3) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,269) Chicago, IL |
| 01/08/2017 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | Wichita State | L 66–80 | 5–10 (0–4) | McLeod Center (5,547) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/11/2017 8:00 pm, FSMW/CSNC | | at Bradley | L 61–72 | 5–11 (0–5) | Carver Arena (5,138) Peoria, IL |
| 01/15/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Drake | W 79–60 | 6–11 (1–5) | McLeod Center (4,652) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/18/2017 7:00 pm, FSMW/CSNC | | Loyola–Chicago | W 72–69 $^{2OT}$ | 7–11 (2–5) | McLeod Center (3,934) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/21/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | W 58–57 | 8–11 (3–5) | SIU Arena (5,015) Carbondale, IL |
| 01/25/2017 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN3 | | Evansville | W 61–54 | 9–11 (4–5) | McLeod Center (3,782) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/28/2017 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Drake | W 71–63 | 10–11 (5–5) | Knapp Center (5,237) Des Moines, IA |
| 02/01/2017 8:00 pm, FSMW/CSNC | | at Illinois State | L 51–57 | 10–12 (5–6) | Redbird Arena (5,732) Normal, IL |
| 02/04/2017 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | Indiana State | W 65–60 | 11–12 (6–6) | McLeod Center (4,982) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/08/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | W 49–41 | 12–12 (7–6) | McLeod Center (3,921) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/12/2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Missouri State | W 55–52 | 13–12 (8–6) | JQH Arena (4,165) Springfield, MO |
| 02/15/2017 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN3 | | Bradley | W 64–61 | 14–12 (9–6) | McLeod Center (4,225) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/18/2017 11:00 am, ESPN2 | | at Wichita State | L 44–73 | 14–13 (9–7) | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| 02/22/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | L 59–69 | 14–14 (9–8) | Hulman Center (3,778) Terre Haute, IN |
| 02/25/2017 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | Illinois State | L 42–63 | 14–15 (9–9) | McLeod Center (5,677) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| 03/03/2017 8:35 pm, ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC | (3) | vs. (6) Missouri State Quarterfinals | L 64–70 | 14–16 | Scottrade Center (9,124) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Panther Sports Network (PSN) Cedar Falls Utilities Ch. 15/HD415; KCRG-TV Ch. 9.2; WHO-DT Ch. 13.2; KGCW Ch. 26, Time Warner CableKC Channel 324, Comcast SportsNet Chicago