UNI’s Washpun the latest to play Robin to Tuttle’s Batman

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa forward Seth Tuttle added to his growing list of regular season accolades Monday, picking up Missouri Valley Player of the Week for the second straight week, and was also named CBS Sports' National Player of the Week.

He's produced consistently, averaging at least 18 points for a month straight and garnering the bulk of the attention from local and national media.

But if Tuttle is the No. 15 Panthers' (20-2, 9-1 MVC) Batman, his Robin has been a rotating cast of characters. Against Wichita State on Saturday, it was Cedar Rapids Washington grad Wes Washpun — who hasn't had a major impact offensively since the very beginning of conference play. He returned to his non-conference form just in time to help torch the Shockers for 16 points, three assists and three rebounds.

Whether it's Washpun on Saturday, Paul Jesperson's 13 points (3 of 4 from 3-point range) against Southern Illinois or Nate Buss (lighting it up from deep on three occasions in conference), there's really no telling for Coach Ben Jacobson who that Robin to Tuttle's Batman will be on a given night.

'There are some games where you feel like you might have a couple pretty good ideas. And sometimes they work when the game starts, sometimes they don't,' Jacobson said at Monday's weekly media luncheon. 'That would involve some particular guys where you feel like it may be a game where they can excel a little bit. Sometimes that's right, sometimes that's wrong.'

It came as no surprise — to Jacobson or anyone else who follows the team closely — that it was Washpun who stepped into the limelight in the Panthers' biggest game to that point of the season.

Whether it was and-1 baskets, celebrating with fans courtside and nodding to the student section with his trademark grin or a highlight-reel dunk that ended with Wichita State star Ron Baker's face in his leg, Washpun got the most out of a high-level game.

Jacobson credited the confidence the junior played with — aside from the natural confidence he carries — to how he finished at Southern Illinois, where he had six points and six assists while playing most of the second half.

'Part of it was Deon (Mitchell) had his four games, his four best games in a row — the game at Drake maybe being the best game of his career for us. So Deon had a good stretch there that maybe did take some of Wes' opportunities,' Jacobson said. 'But Wes, the second half, we needed him at Southern. He opened up the floor for us, and did a lot of good things. So he's coming off a really good game. And as we all know, Wes has a little energy to him. In a game like that, he's going to be at his finest and want to be in the mix. He ended up doing very well.'

With the well-documented depth UNI has this season — a luxury not shared in many seasons past — the talent pool can be hard to keep satisfied.

Jacobson said he feels lucky that his players are self-aware enough to know their time will come and are always at the ready to be the guy who supplements Tuttle's production.

'The thing I like about our team is we've got enough experience and we've got guys who are confident in what they're doing and what they need to do for our team and trust that we're doing the best we can from a coaching staff standpoint to put them in a good position to put our team in a good position — whether it's 12-15 minutes or 25-28 for a guy like Jesperson or whoever,' Jacobson said. 'I think that's a little bit unique, and it's a hard balance to strike. And I give our guys a lot of credit for that.'

ADJUSTING TO NATIONAL ATTENTION

Being one of only six teams in the country with 20 wins — joining Kentucky, Arizona, Gonzaga, Notre Dame and Valparaiso — brings Northern Iowa (No. 14 in the AP Top 25) more national attention than it gets on a normal basis.

Jacobson knew this would happen based on his experience around the 2010 season in which his Panthers went to the Sweet 16 after knocking off No. 1-seed Kansas. The difference between then and now, though, is the ninth-year coach was ready for it, and knows better how to handle it and still give his team the time he feels they deserve.

'I'm much better with (national attention) now,' Jacobson said. 'I think what you learn is that you can't get to everybody and do your team justice. The most important thing I do is take care of our players and our staff, so I'm glad I've been through that part of it. That helps, to understand my time needs to be spent with our players and our staff and continuing to help these guys move forward the best we can.'

There's no doubt in his mind, either where the priorities need to be.

Heading on the road to Indiana State on Tuesday — a team that sits third in the MVC at 11-11 overall and 7-3 in league play — he knows how important time with the players is, and won't adjust that for anything or anyone.

'That's so much more important than trying to get to everybody, even some of the national (media) that are a lot of ways very important from a program standpoint,' Jacobson said. 'We want to be out there, we want people talking about us nationally, and for that to happen, I have to be involved with it. But that's not more important than me making sure I'm taking care of our guys. The best way I can do that is with my time.'

MCLEOD GETS LOUD

A crowd of 7,050 — the fourth largest in McLeod Center's history — packed in to watch UNI's 70-54 win on Saturday, and it was easily the biggest crowd of the season.

Having seen tremendous home court advantages at Wichita State, at Iowa State, at Washington and at VCU in his time with the Panthers, Jacobson knows the value of having that environment on a consistent basis. And though McLeod hasn't built that reputation, Jacobson puts much of that on the team's performance as anything else.

'You know when you're in a place like that. And our place has been like that on occasion. Not often enough, but on occasion. It's just different. There's no way to put a number on how much impact it has on the guys,' Jacobson said. 'I told our guys in October, it's our job to give the students and our fans something to grab onto; we're going to have to do better than we did a year ago.'

THIS WEEK

Northern Iowa travels to Terre Haute, Ind. to face Indiana State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, then returns home to face Drake on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the McLeod Center.

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