The University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team will open 2012-13 Missouri Valley Conference play at Wichita State on Dec. 30.

UNI's first home game in MVC play will occur on Jan. 2 when the Panthers host the Indiana State Sycamores in the McLeod Center. The Panthers and Sycamores will tip at 7 p.m.

UNI will then travel to Illinois State on Jan. 5, before returning home to take on the Evansville Purple Aces on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.

The Panthers continue a modest two-game home stand by hosting the Bradley Braves on Jan. 12.

UNI will play at Creighton on Jan. 15, before coming back to the McLeod Center to play the Drake Bulldogs on Jan. 20.

UNI plays host to the Southern Illinois Salukis on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m., before embarking on a two-game road set at Indiana State (Jan. 26) and at Evansville (Jan. 29).

The Panthers will then play three of their next four games at home in the McLeod Center. UNI will play host to Wichita State (Feb. 2), Missouri State (Feb. 5), Creighton (Feb. 13 - 7 p.m.), with a road trip to Bradley on Feb. 10.

UNI's next three MVC games all fall on the road with trips to Drake (Feb. 16), at Missouri State (Feb. 19) and at Southern Illinois (Feb. 27). In between the Missouri State and Southern Illinois games, the Panthers will play host to a BracketBusters opponent on Feb. 22, Feb. 23 or Feb. 24.

UNI will close out the MVC regular season by hosting Illinois State on March 2 in the McLeod Center.

To purchase season tickets, call the UNI ticket office at 319-273-4849 or visit www.UNIPanthers.com.

NOTE: The league TV schedule is not set at this time and could affect start times ... consider the start times tentative until the final TV schedule is set Sept. 30.