# 2019–20 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by 14th-year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 25–6, 14–4 in MVC play to win the MVC regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament to Drake. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they were set to receive an automatic bid to NIT. However, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2018–19 season 16–18, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the MVC tournament, they beat Southern Illinois and Drake before losing to Bradley in the championship.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Tray Croft | 5 | G | 6'1" | 170 | Junior | Anniston, AL | Transferred to Wisconsin–Parkside |
| Miles Wentzien | 10 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Fort Madison, IA | Walk-on; graduated |
| Wyatt Lohaus | 22 | G | 6'2" | 192 | RS Senior | North Liberty, IA | Graduated |

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| James Betz PF | Garner, IA | Garner–Hayfield High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Aug 11, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Cole Henry SG | Oskaloosa, IA | Oskaloosa High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Aug 13, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Noah Carter PF | Dubuque, IA | Dubuque Senior High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Jun 27, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Antwan Kimmons PG | Saint Paul, MN | Tartan High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019. ||||||

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2020) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tytan Anderson PG | Eldridge, IA | North Scott Senior High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A | Aug 14, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A |||||||
| 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: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN+ | | Old Dominion | W 58–53 | 1–0 | McLeod Center (3,705) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 9, 2019* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Illinois | W 64–54 | 2–0 | Convocation Center (1,003) DeKalb, IL |
| November 13, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 67–55 | 3–0 | McLeod Center (3,151) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 16, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Colorado Cancún Challenge campus site game | W 77–72 | 4–0 | McLeod Center (3,580) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN+ | | UT Martin Cancún Challenge campus site game | W 87–67 | 5–0 | McLeod Center (3,128) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cornell (IA) | W 88–66 | 6–0 | McLeod Center (3,171) Cedar Falls, IA |
| November 26, 2019* 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. West Virginia Cancún Challenge Riviera semifinal | L 55–60 | 6–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,478) Cancún, Mexico |
| November 27, 2019* 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. South Carolina Cancún Challenge Riviera Consolation | W 78–72 | 7–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,176) Cancún, Mexico |
| December 2, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Luther College | W 110–51 | 8–1 | McLeod Center (3,088) Cedar Falls, IA |
| December 10, 2019* 8:00 pm, P12N | | at No. 24 Colorado | W 79–76 | 9–1 | CU Events Center (6,570) Boulder, CO |
| December 12, 2019* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Grand Canyon | W 82–58 | 10–1 | GCU Arena (7,186) Phoenix, AZ |
| December 22, 2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Marshall | W 88–80 | 11–1 | McLeod Center (4,648) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| December 31, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | L 70–76 | 11–2 (0–1) | Redbird Arena (5,190) Normal, IL |
| January 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Bradley | W 69–64 | 12–2 (1–1) | McLeod Center (4,269) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Indiana State | W 68–60 | 13–2 (2–1) | McLeod Center (3,697) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 11, 2020 3:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI/ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | W 80–57 | 14–2 (3–1) | JQH Arena (3,520) Springfield, MO |
| January 15, 2020 7:00 pm, PSN/ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 88–78 | 15–2 (4–1) | McLeod Center (4,057) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 18, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Bradley | W 86–71 | 16–2 (5–1) | Carver Arena (6,774) Peoria, IL |
| January 22, 2020 8:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI/ESPN+ | | at Southern Illinois | L 66–68 | 16–3 (5–2) | SIU Arena (4,319) Carbondale, IL |
| January 26, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPNU | | Loyola–Chicago | W 67–62 $^{OT}$ | 17–3 (6–2) | McLeod Center (5,145) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 29, 2020 6:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI/ESPN+ | | Missouri State | W 95–66 | 18–3 (7–2) | McLeod Center (4,076) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 1, 2020 1:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI/ESPN3 | | at Evansville | W 80–68 | 19–3 (8–2) | Ford Center (4,669) Evansville, IN |
| February 5, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Valparaiso | W 63–51 | 20–3 (9–2) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,030) Valparaiso, IN |
| February 8, 2020 3:00 pm, FSNW/NBCSCHI | | Drake | W 83–73 | 21–3 (10–2) | McLeod Center (6,497) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 12, 2020 7:00 pm, PSN | | Illinois State | W 71–63 | 22–3 (11–2) | McLeod Center (4,477) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 15, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 73–82 $^{OT}$ | 22–4 (11–3) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,963) Chicago, IL |
| February 20, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Indiana State | L 64–67 | 22–5 (11–4) | Hulman Center (3,765) Terre Haute, IN |
| February 23, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPNU | | Southern Illinois | W 64–52 | 23–5 (12–4) | McLeod Center (6,497) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 26, 2020 7:00PM, PSN/ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 84–64 | 24–5 (13–4) | McLeod Center (4,934) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 29, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Drake | W 70–43 | 25–5 (14–4) | Knapp Center (7,152) Des Moines, IA |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| March 6, 2020 12:05 pm, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (8) Drake Quarterfinals | L 56–77 | 25–6 | Enterprise Center (7,399) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source
Panther Sports Network (PSN) Cedar Falls Utilities Ch. 15/HD415; KCRG-TV Ch. 9.2; WHO-DT Ch. 13.2; KGCW Ch. 26, (NBC Sports Chicago or NBCSC+)