Are the Panthers Ready to Pounce?

UNI is Climbing the Standings

(St. Louis, MO) – Northern Iowa has won five of its last six games and with three games left are in contention for a first round bye at Arch Madness. UNI coach Ben Jacobson is coaching in his twentieth season and has his team ready to pounce.

UNI (18-10, 10-7) is one of six teams, separated by one game in the loss collum, engaged in a fight for places two through five in the standings. Belmont has assured itself of one of the top two seeds. Numbers two through five receive a first round bye at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

This has been a season where the Panthers have thrived when Tristan Smith is in the lineup and have struggled when injuries kept him out of action. The Panthers are 16-4 with Smith and 2-6 without him.

While he didn’t play a major role in Wednesday night’s game, Jacobson says Smith’s very presence makes his team better and more confident.

The grad-transfer and former NAIA all-American is averaging 9.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Along with late arriving Illinois Chicago guard Elijah Crawford, Smith may be one of the Valley’s most important newcomers.

Hold Overs Shining and Improving

Senior Trey Campbell has been a long-term mainstay of the Panther program. An elite defender, Campbell has started 124 of the 126 games he’s appeared in and has racked up nearly 1,300 points, 500 rebounds, more than 300 assists and 160 steals.

Campbell is a complete basketball player.

Eighteen times this season, he’s reached double digits with a high of 27 points against Murray State, but he does everything for this team. He has recorded over 100 rebounds and 100 assists, all while guarding the other team’s best perimeter player. Two games after that 27-point outburst, Campbell doled out ten assists against Evansville.

He is a ‘do what it takes to win’ kind of player and he’s nearly a two-to-one assist to turnover guy.

Jacobson says his senior guard has taken on the leadership role of doing what’s needed and leading by example.

After reaching double figures in eight of UNI’s first 18 games, center Will Hornseth has reached that level in the last nine contests. His season-long numbers are deceiving (averaging 11 points per game). Over the past nine he’s averaging 15.1 points per night. Hornseth’s outstanding .630 shooting percentage is exceeded by his .652 percentage over the past nine outings.

Jacobson says, he challenged Hornseth and his teammates to be more aggressive offensively and the 6’9 sophomore took the message to heart and has been a different offensive player ever since.

Are They Ready to Pounce?

The Panthers have work to do. They are tied with Illinois State (18-10, 10-7) for sixth place. Those two trail Bradley (18-10, 11-6) and UIC (16-12, 11-6) by one game in the standings and Murray State (19-10, 11-7) by a half game.

Two of their final three games are at home, including a potential tie-breaking game with Illinois State. UNI will also host SIU and finishes the season at in-state rival Drake. Of these five teams you would consider their finishing schedule to be the easiest.

Kenpom.com calls the Panthers favorites in each of its trio of games and if we’re to believe Mr. Pomeroy, the Panthers will finish in a third place tie with Bradley. UIC would finish second and Murray State fifth.

UNI owns a head-to-head tie-breaker with Murray State and when no advantage is gained by the head-to-head outcomes, the Valley uses the NET to break that tie. The Panthers currently have the strongest NET ranking of any team, not named Belmont.

In virtually any tied scenario, the Panthers will come out ahead.

This is Jacobson’s twentieth season in Cedar Falls. It is the seventeenth time his team has won at least sixteen games and the fourteenth time they’ve won 18. Ten times, including last season the ‘Dean of the Valley Coaches’ has accumulated twenty victories.

If the Panthers are ready to pounce, then UNI will reach that 20-win plateau again and the five-time MVC coach of the year will have his team poised right where he wants them on the way to St. Louis.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo of Tristan Smith, courtesy of unipanthers.com.