The Northern Iowa men hope to make a deep run at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis, even though they open in Thursday’s play-in round. The Panthers are seeded sixth and open Thursday night against 11th seeded Evansville. Regular season champ Belmont is the favorite but UNI coach Ben Jacobson says the rise of the Illinois-Chicago and Valparaiso programs mean the field is deeper than it has been in several years.

The Panthers finished 11-9 in the Valley race and losses in their final two home games prevented them from being a top three seed.

Jacobson is not concerned with his dealing with a late 8:30 tip-off on Thursday night.