UNI men’s basketball frontcourt focused on playing with urgency after losing season

WATERLOO - After a 2016-17 season that ended with a 14-16 record and no postseason Northern Iowa men's basketball players and coaches settled in for a longer than usual offseason with plenty to improve upon. During the previous season's struggles, the most common theme that developed was a lack of consistency.

Whether it was shooting, rebounding, or playing with the right amount of urgency, last year's Panthers were not able to put enough together on a game-by-game basis to hit their usual 20-plus wins and be a contender for the postseason. And while there's no denying the amount of youth on last year's team - seven Panthers played their first minutes for head coach Ben Jacobson last season - good luck getting any player or coach to allow that as an excuse for their shortcomings.

'I just think we need to play with more urgency,” senior-to-be Klint Carlson said after his Vinton Merchants team defeated L.L. Pelling 100-89 Thursday at the Cedar Valley Sportsplex to advance to the Prime Time League championship. 'There were times when we would get down (last season), and then start to come back. We can't have that this year. We've got all the parts. We just need to believe in ourselves and play with that urgency.”

A season ago it was Klint Carlson and Bennett Koch's names that would quickly follow the now graduated Jeremy Morgan's whenever anyone talked Panthers. Looking ahead to the 2017-18 season Panthers fans are counting on their now senior-laden frontcourt of Carlson and Koch to rebound from that disappointing season, and, part of their rebound - according to Koch - must include rebounding.

'First thing (to improve), easily, rebounding. I don't think there were more than a handful of games where we outrebounded the other team. It's been that way the past two seasons so obviously something needs to change,” Koch said after his Culvers team fell to Westport Touchless Autowash 78-62 in Thursday's other Prime Time League semifinal. 'With the couple team workouts we've had so far Coach (Jacobson) has put a lot of emphasis on (rebounding). So if we don't figure that out I think we're going to have another long season, but I'm confident in us that we'll figure it out.”

Beyond the team focuses of urgency and rebounding Carlson and Koch have each approached the offseason with individual emphases.

Take a look back at the numbers from a season ago and what jumps off the page for Carlson - a forward with a reputation for being able to stretch the floor - was a 3-point shooting percentage of 25 percent on 95 attempts.

'I want to shoot the ball from the 3-point line better. Make that a little more consistent, and lead the team better than I did last year,” Carlson said.

Look back at last season's stats for Koch - a center with the ability to score in bunches - and the amount of fouls jump off the page. Koch was sixth in minutes played last year for the Panthers and led his team in personal fouls by a margin of 18.

'The biggest thing for me is conditioning,” Koch said. Other than conditioning - defense. Last year I really struggled with fouls and sometimes that hurt the team. And I think (staying out of foul trouble) goes right back into conditioning. Because I'll get tired and I won't be in the right position.”

The senior frontcourt duo mentioned they like to play on each other's teams during offseason pickup games to sharpen their chemistry. Should Carlson find his stroke again from three as a senior, and Koch get into the condition he's hoping for the Panthers will have a head start on the possibility of another sub-.500 season being quickly put to rest.