Northern Iowa Panthers (2-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley) vs. Boston College Eagles (3-1, 0-0 ACC)
Time: 3:30 EST
Date: Monday, Nov. 23, 2009
Place: USVI Sports and Fitness Center, University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, USVI
Series: First ever meeting between the two teams.
Northern Iowa's 2008-2009 Record: 23-11 (14-4 Missouri Valley, regular season and postseason tournament champs)
Trivia: Northern Iowa has five NCAA tournament appearances all-time, yet they have never played a team ranked lower than a 7 seed. Northern Iowa's one win in the NCAAs was a first-round upset of #3 Missouri, 74-71, in 1990.
Probable Starters (2009-2010 statistics):
- G - Johnny Moran (So.) - 4.3 PPG, 2 APG
G - Kwadzo Ahelegbe (Jr.) - 12.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG - G - Ali Farokhmanesh (Sr.) - 11.7 PPG, 1.3 RPG
F - Adam Koch (Sr.) - 15.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG
C - Jordan Eglseder (Sr.) - 11.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG
The Eagles men's basketball team tries to finish up the Paradise Jam with a win as they face the Northern Iowa Panthers in the 4th place vs. 5th place game. The Eagles are coming off a 75-58 win over South Dakota State to push their record to 2-1. Joe Trapani led all Eagles scorers with 21 points, hitting 5-of-6 from behind the arc and picking up 7 rebounds. Biko Paris pitched in 16 points while Corey Raji and Josh Southern each has 12 points. The Eagles will miss the services of Rakim Sanders, who is out 2-4 weeks with a right ankle sprain.
While not a ranked team like Tennessee or Purdue, Northern Iowa is a fairly good team in their own right. The Panthers are coming off a 23-11 season where they won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and gave Purdue all they could handle in a #5 vs. #12 first round loss in the NCAA Tournament. Northern Iowa lost to DePaul to open the Paradise Jam but rebounded with a win over East Carolina. Forward Adam Koch had a career day, scoring 25 points including 5-for-5 from three point range.
Go Eagles!