UNI's Carlson takes a leap with Arch Madness play

CEDAR FALLS — In the locker room at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, just after Northern Iowa had defeated Wichita State in the Missouri Valley Tournament semifinal, senior guard Matt Bohannon was asked about Klint Carlson, and if the sophomore had a breakout game against the Shockers.

Carlson had subbed in with 15:40 to go in the second half, and didn't leave the game again, playing the final 20:40, which included overtime.

Bohannon didn't know his answer to that question would be prophetic. Not for the next day, at any rate.

'I think he's had lots of breakout games throughout the season,' Bohannon said Saturday afternoon. 'We all know that when he plays well, he's one of the best players in the conference, and he will show you that the next couple years after this season. He's been a real big key to our run here.'

Fast forward 'the next couple years' to the next day, when Carlson had a career-high 17 points — including 13 in the first half on six of seven shooting — and played a career-high 31 minutes off the bench in the Panthers' Arch Madness championship triumph over Evansville.

Through an early-season suspension for offseason OWI and a nagging knee injury during UNI's rough start to conference play, Carlson kept at it. Being on a team with definite and demanding senior leadership can at times be intimidating.

Rather than let growing pains both as a young man and a young player sidetrack him, Carlson was propelled by an ever-growing amount of confidence from his teammates and their coaches.

'Their confidence in me helps have confidence in myself. Them believing in me helps me a ton with my game,' Carlson said. 'I've grown a lot, and I give all the credit to Coach Jake, the rest of the coaching staff and all my teammates for instilling that confidence in me. I know every night I can just go out and give it my all and hopefully help the team, but I know they all believe in me.

'It's all about coming together and knowing that if we have confidence in each other, we can play however we want to play. Being relaxed, believing in each other, it helps us.'

That much is plainly clear to Coach Ben Jacobson.

At Media Day in the fall, Jacobson remarked how impressed he was with Carlson dealing with the arrest over the summer, then how impressed he was with Carlson dealing with the suspension — which included the win against North Carolina — and finally how Carlson dealt with the knee injury and growing on the court over the season.

'Boy, I've been so impressed with where he's come, in terms of his confidence. He's not an overly confident kid. And for him, it took getting healthy, but then also having success,' Jacobson said. 'Those older guys do believe in him, and they know he can play and really help our program. So he's got that going for him.

'But a year ago, we had enough older guys that he wasn't in the rotation. But in saying that, he hadn't gotten onto the right track just in terms of being a confident young man, believing in who he is and believing he can do the job. You've got to get out there and play, and you've got to have some success. That helps. But he also has to turn that corner, and he has.'

Whatever impact the growth off the court, it manifested itself on the court in St. Louis. Carlson's versatility in the frontcourt showed up in averaging 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in the three games at Arch Madness, including a career-high nine rebounds against Wichita State — several of which came over Shockers' center Shaq Morris and in key situations in the second half. In the championship game, his play at the center position — while UNI went small — for much of the first half forced Evansville to take Egidijus Mockevicius out of the game entirely. In addition to the career-highs in points, rebounds and minutes, he had career-highs in field goals made and steals.

He was named to the All-MVC Tournament team and announced his seat at the table as what Jacobson called an 'X-Factor' for the team headed into the NCAA Tournament.

Carlson definitely didn't predict his success at the tournament, but he had a hunch given how he felt going in.

'I wouldn't say that, but I definitely would think about myself playing better than myself playing worse. You always want to visualize success,' Carlson said. 'It's nice to be able to come out here and perform like this. I've said it all weekend. I give all the credit to my teammates. Without them, I wouldn't be the player I am.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com