UNI eager to correct result of last Loyola game

CEDAR FALLS - Ben Jacobson didn't say the word out loud.

When the subject of revenge came up in reference to Northern Iowa going to Loyola, to face the team that beat the Panthers in what served as the low point of a losing streak, UNI's head coach didn't say the word 'revenge.”

What he did say was, 'yes.”

'I just think for guys, it's just the competitive part. I really do. That can help the team that got beat the first time, I don't think there's any question,” Jacobson said Monday. 'That's the competitive nature of being a part of this. That if you get beat, you've just got a little more to you when you're getting ready and a little more to you when you play them a second time.

'If they're lacking that, we've got bigger issues. It isn't something I (have to) get into.”

Starting with the Missouri State rematch Feb. 10, followed by Saturday's win at Wichita State, including at Loyola and then games at home against Illinois State and Indiana State, UNI faces five games in a row against teams who dealt the Panthers losses this season in conference play.

The revenge factor isn't some overt message, as Jacobson said, but there was no point in Jacobson denying it's something that drives his team. With the competitiveness on the roster in guys like Matt Bohannon, Wes Washpun, Jeremy Morgan, Wyatt Lohaus and on down the line, it's about channeling that motivation and making the game prep in this series of games more than just about exacting revenge.

If that's the fuel that lights the initial fire, Jacobson and Co. aren't casting it out. It's finding the kindling that keeps the flame going that's most important now.

'Your hardest job is to be able to approach each day the same,” Jacobson said. 'When you're not playing well, obviously you have to fight more things. You've got confidence, you've got all kinds of outside distractions - there are so many other things to deal with in order to just focus on practicing well. You learn a lot about yourself from that standpoint. But now it's been three weeks of playing pretty good.

'My hope for our program is that our guys understand it doesn't matter - whether you've won a couple or lost a couple, or who it is, it really makes no difference. You have the responsibility to prepare each day no matter what's going on around you.”

So far so good through the first two rematches - not to mention the four games before that. The six-game winning streak can be attributed both to a defense that's resembled what Jacobson and his team expect every year, as well as to a much more mobile and fluid offense.

Said fluidity can be traced directly to the last game the Panthers (16-11, 8-6 Missouri Valley Conference) played against the Ramblers (12-14, 5-9). UNI scored 41 points in 40 minutes of basketball, shot 13 of 48 (27.1 percent) from the field, 7 of 24 (29.2 percent) from 3-point range and committed 13 turnovers compared to eight assists.

It was the middle of a four-game losing streak, and the offense had stalled to the point of Washpun dribbling for 25 seconds and forced to tough shots on most possessions. A change was necessary, and it came.

Loyola got a spark in the last matchup, Jacobson said. The Ramblers started 0-5 in league play, and have been 5-4 since - including the win against UNI, and one at Southern Illinois - and Jacobson said, very clearly, Loyola's coaching and its talent are far better than its record might indicate.

So maybe the revenge and preparation factors don't just apply to the players.

'Offensively our ball movement has got to be much better (this time). That was during the stretch that kind of led to us making some changes to what we were doing offensively,” Jacobson said. 'We did not move the ball very well. We did not do a very good job coaching our guys offensively in that game. Loyola has continued to play well defensively, if not got even better. They'll play a smaller lineup, so they'll be able to deny passes. They make it hard for you to get the ball where you want to get it.

'They've got a group that very much has the ability to beat anybody in our league, and they've shown it.”

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