2008–09 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented University of Northern Iowa in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, which played in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), was led by third-year head coach Ben Jacobson. In 2007–08, the Panthers finished 18–14 (9–9 in the MVC).

2008–09 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball
MVC Regular Season Co-Champions MVC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	23–11 (14–4 MVC)
Head coach	Ben Jacobson (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Kyle Green P.J. Hogan Ben Johnson
Home arena	McLeod Center
Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Northern Iowa †	14	–	4		.778			23	–	11		.676
Creighton	14	–	4		.778			27	–	8		.771
Illinois State	11	–	7		.611			24	–	10		.706
Bradley	10	–	8		.556			21	–	15		.583
Southern Illinois	8	–	10		.444			13	–	18		.419
Evansville	8	–	10		.444			17	–	14		.548
Wichita State	8	–	10		.444			17	–	17		.500
Drake	7	–	11		.389			17	–	16		.515
Indiana State	7	–	11		.389			11	–	21		.344
Missouri State	3	–	15		.167			11	–	20		.355
† Missouri Valley Conference tournament winner As of April 1, 2009 Rankings from AP Poll

Pre-season

Northern Iowa played two games during the preseason. They faced Dubuque and Wayne State at home.

Regular season

On January 31, 2009, the Panthers tied a school record for the most consecutive wins with a 61–57 victory over Indians State. The record tied the 1963–1964 State College of Iowa Panthers team. On February 2, 2008, Northern Iowa received 1 point in the AP Top 25 poll which had them ranked 45th.^[1] On March 9, 2008, Northern Iowa received 3 points in the AP Top 25 poll which had them ranked T-37th.^[2]

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

No. Position Player 5 G Ali Farokhmanesh 10 G Brian Haak 11 G Kwadzo Ahelegbe 13 G Johnny Moran 15 G Jon Montgomery 20 F Jake Koch 21 G Travis Brown 22 G Kerwin Dunham

No. Position Player 25 G Carlton Reed 32 F Lucas O'Rear 33 C Austin Pehl 34 F Adam Koch 43 F Adam Rodenberg 52 G Anthony James 53 C Jordan Eglseder

Schedule

Missouri Valley Conference Standing: T-1st[3]
Date	Opponent*	Rank*	Location	Time#	Result	Overall	Conference
Exhibition Games
November 4, 2008	Dubuque		Cedar Falls, IA	7:05 p.m.	W 69–51	1–0	0–0
November 10, 2008	Wayne State		Cedar Falls, IA	7:05 p.m.	W 44–27	2–0	0–0
Regular Season Games
November 15, 2008	Denver		Cedar Falls, IA	12:05 p.m.	W 61–56	1–0	0–0
November 19, 2008	Illinois Chicago		Chicago, IL	7:00 p.m.	L 84–77	1–1	0–0
November 23, 2008	Texas Southern		Cedar Falls, IA	4:05 p.m.	W 74–67	2–1	0–0
November 25, 2008	Chicago State		Cedar Falls, IA	8:05 p.m.	W 81–70	3–1	0–0
November 28, 2008	#15 Marquette		Hoffman Estates, IL	7:30 p.m.	L 73–43	3–2	0–0
November 29, 2008	Auburn		Hoffman Estates, IL	4:30 p.m.	W 67–61	4–2	0–0
December 3, 2008	Iowa State		Cedar Falls, IA	8:05 p.m.	L 71–66	4–3	0–0
December 6, 2008	North Dakota		Cedar Falls, IA	3:05 p.m.	W 69–49	5–3	0–0
December 9, 2008	Iowa		Iowa City, IA	6:05 p.m.	L 65–46	5–4	0–0
December 13, 2008	Wyoming		Casper, WY	4:30 p.m.	L 74–65	5–5	0–0
December 21, 2008	South Dakota State		Cedar Falls, IA	1:05 p.m.	W 72–55	6–5	0–0
December 28, 2008	Indiana State		Cedar Falls, IA	1:05 p.m.	L 85–84	6–6	0–1
December 31, 2008	Southern Illinois		Carbondale, IL	7:05 p.m.	W 59–51	7–6	1–1
January 3, 2009	Wichita State		Cedar Falls, IA	7:05 p.m.	W 78–54	8–6	2–1
January 6, 2009	Creighton		Omaha, NE	7:05 p.m.	W 69–66	9–6	3–1
January 10, 2009	Missouri State		Cedar Falls, IA	7:05 p.m.	W 78–64	10–6	4–1
January 13, 2009	Evansville		Evansville, IN	7:05 p.m.	W 58–47	11–6	5–1
January 17, 2009	Drake		Des Moines, IA	11:05 a.m.	W 81–59	12–6	6–1
January 21, 2009	Bradley		Cedar Falls, IA	7:05 p.m.	W 66–61	13–6	7–1
January 25, 2009	Missouri State		Springfield, MO	6:05 p.m.	W 78–69	14–6	8–1
January 28, 2009	Illinois State		Cedar Falls, IA	7:05 p.m.	W 59–55	15–6	9–1
January 31, 2009	Indiana State		Terre Haute, IN	12:05 p.m.	W 61–57	16–6	10–1
February 3, 2009	Bradley		Peoria, IL	7:05 p.m.	W 61–58	17–6	11–1
February 8, 2009	Creighton		Cedar Falls, IA	1:05 p.m.	L 77–71	17–7	11–2
February 11, 2009	Southern Illinois		Cedar Falls, IA	7:05 p.m.	W 81–55	18–7	12–2
February 14, 2009	Wichita State		Wichita, KS	7:05 p.m.	L 69–61	18–8	12–3
February 18, 2009	Drake		Cedar Falls, IA	7:05 p.m.	L 47–46	18–9	12–4
February 21, 2009	Siena		Newtonville, NY	2:00 p.m.	L 81–75	18–10	12–4
February 24, 2009	Illinois State		Normal, IL	7:05 p.m.	W 69–67	19–10	13–4
February 28, 2009	Evansville		Cedar Falls, IA	7:30 p.m.	W 69–62	20–10	14–4
Missouri Valley Conference tournament
March 6, 2009	Indiana State		St. Louis, MO	12:05 p.m.	W 73–69	21–10	14–4
March 7, 2009	Bradley		St. Louis, MO	1:35 p.m.	W 76–62	22–10	14–4
March 8, 2009	Illinois State		St. Louis, MO	1:05 p.m.	W 60–57	23–10	14–4
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2009	#18 Purdue		Portland, OR	1:30 p.m.	L 61–56	23–11	14–4
*Rank according to ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. #All times are in CST. Conference games in BOLD.