The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team opens the 2026 State Farm MVC Tournament against Evansville on Thursday night in St. Louis. As the sixth seed, UNI enters with strong defensive stats and recent momentum. Forward Will Hornseth was named to the MVC Most Improved Team earlier this week.
The UNI Panthers (19-12 overall, 11-9 MVC) will tip off postseason play as the sixth seed in the 2026 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, known as Arch Madness, against the 11th-seeded Evansville Purple Aces. The opening-round game is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, with capacity for 18,096 fans. Coverage will be available on the MVC TV Network/ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
UNI seeks its sixth MVC Tournament title, the first since 2016, and a berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament for the ninth time in program history. The Panthers lead the all-time series against Evansville 38-30, having swept the regular-season matchups this year, including a 71-55 victory on January 31 in Cedar Falls. UNI is 4-0 against Evansville in MVC Tournament play, with their last meeting in St. Louis a first-round win in 2018.
Entering the tournament, UNI has won seven of its last 11 games, culminating in a 75-53 regular-season finale win over Drake on Sunday. The Panthers boast the nation's top scoring defense, allowing just 61.1 points per game, and rank fifth in three-point percentage defense at 28.2%. They are 14-3 when holding opponents to 60 or fewer points and have limited 14 of their last 21 foes to under 30% from beyond the arc.
Key contributors include guard Trey Campbell, who reached 1,000 career points in December and ranks high in program records for starts, steals, and three-pointers. He needs seven more rebounds to join the 1,000-500-300 club for points, rebounds, and assists. Forward Will Hornseth, a sophomore from De Pere, Wisconsin, earned MVC Most Improved Team honors on Tuesday, averaging 11.3 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 61.6% from the field—on pace for the fifth-best single-season mark in UNI history. His career 63.6% shooting leads the program for players with at least 100 made field goals, and he has scored in double figures in 21 games, including his last 12. Guard Max Weisbrod has added spark from three-point range, shooting 38.4% and posting double-digit points in three of his last six games.
Evansville (7-24, 3-17 MVC) enters after a tough season, scoring a league-low 67.2 points per game while allowing 76.7. They stunned Valparaiso with a buzzer-beating three-pointer last Saturday but lost 81-67 to Southern Illinois on Sunday. Leading the Purple Aces are AJ Casey with 13.2 points per game, freshman Leif Moeller at 10.7 points and second in the MVC with four assists per game, and Joshua Hughes with three double-doubles.
Head coach Ben Jacobson leads UNI in his 20th Arch Madness, holding a 21-14 tournament record. UNI is 5-7 all-time in opening-round games but 3-0 under Jacobson. The tournament marks its 50th edition and 31st at Enterprise Center. Panther fans can attend a pregame rally at 6 p.m. CT at Ballpark Village.
