The 2015–16 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by tenth year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at the McLeod Center and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference (The Valley). They finished the 23–13, 11–7 in Missouri Valley play to finish in a tie for fourth place. The Panthers defeated Southern Illinois, Wichita State, and Evansville to win the Missouri Valley tournament and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a No. 11 seed, they defeated Texas in the first round to advance to the second round, where they lost to the Texas A&M Aggies in double overtime after suffering the greatest collapse in NCAA Tournament history, blowing a 12 point lead with 35 seconds left in regulation.
Previous season
The Panthers finished the 2014–15 season 31–4, 16–2 in MVC play to finish in second place. They defeated Bradley, Loyola–Chicago, and Illinois State to win the Missouri Valley tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. In the Tournament, they defeated Wyoming in the second round before losing in the Third Round to Louisville.
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes 14 F 6'9" 212 Charles City, IA Graduated 24 G 6'5" 215 Cedar Rapids, IA Graduated 1 G 6'1" 196 Pflugerville, TX Graduated 12 F 6'6" 237 Minneapolis, MN Graduated 10 F 6'8" 220 Sheffield, IA Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Aarias Austin 1 G 6'4" 180 Junior Gurnee, IL Junior college transfer from Des Moines Area Community College.
Incoming recruits
2016 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Missouri Valley Conference regular season
! colspan="9" style=| Missouri Valley tournament
! colspan="9" style=| NCAA tournament
References