Coming off an upset win over #15 Wichita State on Saturday, the U.N.I. basketball team will again be on their home floor tonight when they host Missouri State. Panther coach Ben Jacobson says that a big home crowd helped propel his team to their win on Saturday, but he can’t put a number on the amount of points or defensive stops the crowd helps them get.
“All I do know is that it changes and enhances the opportunity of our team…to win a basketball game, we are going to play better when we’ve got that kind of crowd in there,” Jacobson says.
Missouri State comes into tonight’s game at 7-16 overall but the Bears are tied with U.N.I. in the Valley standings with a 5-6 league record. Jacobson says Missouri State is a very young team that has started to gain some confidence as they young players win some games.
Jacobson says the Bears are especially tough on the defensive end. The Panthers and the Bears tip it off at 7:00 at the McLeod Center tonight.
U.N.I. also learned their opponent for the final edition of the BracketBuster series yesterday. The Panthers will host Denver on February 23 in a game that will be televised by ESPN3.
By Jesse Gavin KCNZ Cedar Falls