UNI rallies from 9 down in 2nd half to top Indiana State, 65-60

CEDAR FALLS — You can keep Jeremy Morgan down for 33 minutes and six seconds. But after that, you'd better look out.

That's how long it took the Northern Iowa star to score his first points Saturday afternoon at McLeod Center. A quick set of fouls midway through the first half sent him to the bench for a long stretch and utterly bamboozled his game.

But when the Panthers needed him most, Morgan emerged from his cocoon and spearheaded a 65-60, come-from-behind win over Indiana State. The senior forward scored 12 of his club's final 23 points, as UNI (11-12) clawed back to even in the Missouri Valley Conference at 6-6.

Pretty fly for a guy who hadn't scored until swishing a pair of free throws with 6:54 left.

'Just try to be really aggressive,' Morgan said. 'We needed to have guys make plays. I just saw some openings, so I took them.'

Morgan was limited to just seven minutes in the first half, as Coach Ben Jacobson chose to sit him instead of potentially acquiring foul number three. He was a non factor a lot of the second half, too, as Indiana State (8-16, 2-10) built as much as a nine-point lead.

But those free throws got him going. He nailed a 3-pointer out by the elbow to cut his team's deficit to 52-50 with 3:38 left.

After a trey put ISU on top, 55-52, Morgan immediately countered with an and-one off a lane drive to re-tie things.

Four more free throws in the final 14.5 seconds iced the game for streaking UNI, which has won six of seven.

'I always struggle with that on what to do,' Jacobson said, of whether or not to sit a player with two fouls. 'We were up 23-12, 23-14 there, and we were playing pretty good enough to leave him on the bench. But aside from being ahead and playing well, it's tough for the guy who sits there. It makes it a totally different game when you've got to sit that long.

'He didn't play that great the first 10 minutes of the second half. But I thought the last five minutes, he was the difference.'

Jacobson went to a smaller lineup after center Bennett Koch fouled out at the 6:17 mark, spreading the floor and letting guys create. A Juwan McCloud baseline drive and reverse layup put UNI ahead, 59-57, with 1:11 left, then Klint Carlson's power drive down the left side of the lane made it a 61-57 game with 20.8 seconds to go.

Freshman McCloud continues to emerge at the point-guard position, finishing with 10 points. All five Panthers starters scored in double figures, led by Koch's 14.

'I'm reaching my comfort level as the games go on,' McCloud said. 'Jeremy and Klint and all the other starters believe in me, and that's great. My confidence level has definitely gotten better.'

It's hard to imagine UNI winning a game like this a month ago, when it was mired in bad play, a seven-game losing streak and an 0-5 conference start. You honestly wondered if this team had the fortitude to turn things around.

They have.

'It's simply because of our defense. We weren't defending at a high level in order to get into position to win a game like this,' Jacobson said. 'Being 0-5, we weren't guarding anybody, and we weren't getting better at practice. We kept going into games and not guarding anybody. They got it changed by getting it done at practice.

'We've got a good team, and now we're playing defense like a team that's got a chance.'

Northern Iowa hosts Southern Illinois on Wednesday night at 7.

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