# 1989–90 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 1989–90 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa as a member of the Mid-Continent Conference during the 1989-90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Eldon Miller and played their home games at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Panthers won the Mid-Con tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament — the school’s first trip to the "Big Dance." In the first round, UNI upset No. 3 seed Missouri, 74–71. The Panthers fell to No. 6 seed Minnesota, 81–78, in the second round. The team finished with a record of 23–9 (6–6 in the Mid-Con).
The 1989–90 team was inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 27, 1989* 7:35 p.m. | | Missouri Western | W 99–84 | 1–0 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Dec 2, 1989* 5:35 p.m. | | at Drake Iowa Big Four | W 71–63 $^{OT}$ | 2–0 | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| Dec 4, 1989* 7:35 p.m. | | Northwest Missouri State | W 110–82 | 3–0 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Dec 9, 1989* 3:35 p.m. | | Northern Illinois | W 63–59 | 4–0 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Dec 11, 1989* 7:30 p.m. | | at Sam Houston State | W 92–79 | 5–0 | Johnson Coliseum Huntsville, Texas |
| Dec 16, 1989* 1:00 p.m. | | at Iowa State Iowa Big Four | L 80–92 | 5–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Dec 27, 1989* 7:30 p.m. | | at Nevada | W 89–88 | 6–1 | Lawlor Events Center Reno, Nevada |
| Dec 29, 1989* 7:30 p.m. | | vs. No. 3 Georgetown | L 49–83 | 6–2 | Thomas & Mack Center (4,348) Paradise, Nevada |
| Jan 3, 1990* 7:05 p.m. | | No. 20 Iowa Iowa Big Four | W 77–74 | 7–2 | UNI-Dome (22,797) Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Jan 6, 1990* 7:35 p.m. | | Stephen F. Austin | W 120–96 | 8–2 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Jan 8, 1990* 7:35 p.m. | | Sam Houston State | W 100–77 | 9–2 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Jan 10, 1990* 7:05 p.m. | | at Northern Illinois | W 63–62 | 10–2 | Chick Evans Field House DeKalb, Illinois |
| Jan 15, 1990 7:30 p.m. | | at Western Illinois | L 61–64 | 10–3 (0–1) | Western Hall Macomb, Illinois |
| Jan 17, 1990 7:30 p.m. | | at Eastern Illinois | W 67–65 | 11–3 (1–1) | Lantz Arena Charleston, Illinois |
| Jan 20, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | Wisconsin–Green Bay | L 58–59 | 11–4 (1–2) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Jan 22, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | Illinois-Chicago | W 75–47 | 12–4 (2–2) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Jan 27, 1990 1:30 p.m. | | at Valparaiso | W 89–80 | 13–4 (3–2) | Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana |
| Jan 29, 1990 7:30 p.m. | | at Cleveland State | W 77–75 | 14–4 | Woodling Gym Cleveland, Ohio |
| Feb 3, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | SW Missouri State | L 72–82 | 14–5 (3–3) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Feb 5, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | Eastern Illinois | W 68–54 | 15–5 (4–3) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Feb 10, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | Western Illinois | W 86–71 | 16–5 (5–3) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Feb 12, 1990* 7:35 p.m. | | Chicago State | W 96–81 | 17–5 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Feb 17, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | at Wisconsin–Green Bay | L 50–64 | 17–6 (5–4) | Brown County Arena Green Bay, Wisconsin |
| Feb 19, 1990 7:30 p.m. | | at Illinois-Chicago | L 60–63 | 17–7 (5–5) | UIC Pavilion Chicago, Illinois |
| Feb 24, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | Valparaiso | W 90–62 | 18–7 (6–5) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Feb 26, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | Cleveland State | W 78–76 | 19–7 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Mar 1, 1990 7:35 p.m. | | at SW Missouri State | L 86–94 | 19–8 (6–6) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| Mid-Continent Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1990* | (4) | (5) Illinois-Chicago Quarterfinals | W 99–94 $^{3OT}$ | 20–8 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Mar 6, 1990* | (4) | (1) SW Missouri State Semifinals | W 63–61 | 21–8 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| Mar 7, 1990* | (4) | (2) Wisconsin–Green Bay Championship | W 53–45 | 22–8 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 1990* ESPN | (14 SE) | vs. (3 SE) No. 11 Missouri First Round | W 74–71 | 23–8 | Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia |
| Mar 18, 1990* | (14 SE) | vs. (6 SE) No. 20 Minnesota Second Round | L 78–81 | 23–9 | Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central Time. ||||||