UNI's Jesperson out of slump, out of his head

CEDAR FALLS — Sometimes, for basketball players, thinking too much gets you in trouble.

Whether you're a ballhandler or a shooter, getting stuck inside one's head can trap a player and cause unwanted mistakes. For Northern Iowa guard Paul Jesperson, that was the case during the first of two noticeable shooting slumps this conference season.

He broke out of his second one Saturday at Drake — after missing 11 straight 3-pointers from the end of the Bradley game through the beginning of the Drake game — with 21 points, a surge of confidence, and by letting out some pent up emotions by pounding on his chest and letting out a guttural scream.

The first slump had Jesperson all twisted up, but learning from that made the second one shorter.

'The last two weeks he's done a better job of just letting things be what they're going to be. Prior to that, almost everything surrounded how he shot the basketball,' said Coach Ben Jacobson. 'He's gotten himself past that hurdle. Now it still feels good to make the first one, right? And that's why, I think, you saw that emotion.

'You're not going to make them all. But you've got to defend, you've got to rebound and you've got to be with your team. He's been much better there.'

Headed into this season, Jesperson's shooting production placed him well within the margins for 'knockdown shooter' consideration.

In his first year on the court with the Panthers after transferring from Virginia, the Wisconsin native shot 48.3 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range. He backed that up through non-conference this season, shooting 44.9 and 40.5 percent respectively — highlighted by his 7 of 10 shooting, 21-point effort against Iowa State.

But it was as UNI got into conference play and the team began to struggle that Jesperson's individual performance suffered, too. During the stretch in which the Panthers (14-11, 6-6 Missouri Valley Conference) lost six of seven, Jesperson shot 34.8 percent overall and just 31.1 percent from 3.

Breaking out of the first one was flashy, going 8 of 11 from 3 for 28 points at Bradley. The other wasn't far behind as he went 5 of 9 from 3 for those 21 points Saturday.

Though it's been a roller coaster in conference, Jesperson said he and his coaches addressed the fact that he was letting the slumps eat him up. Getting back to work instead of stewing on what already happened was his recipe.

'It's something me and coach talked about when I went through a slump a little while back. I try not to think about it as much anymore,' Jesperson said. 'I try to get in, get my reps up. We switched some things up with my workout (to help).

'You don't see it go in for a time, but it hasn't bothered me as much, (the last) slump. It was nice to go out there and see some go in.'

As Jacobson said, the lack of success offensively during the first slump affected every part of Jesperson's game, and it was especially noticeable by the coaches on defense and on the boards.

In the much shorter second one, though, the rest of his game didn't suffer nearly as much. He stayed engaged defensively, stayed out of foul trouble and UNI has won four in a row — even while, in two of those four wins, Jesperson didn't make a single 3-pointer.

'He's got a little different look now. You can see him stick with it better now,' Jacobson said. 'He's keeping himself in the game defensively, he's doing a better job of staying in in terms of rebounding, and not having that come and go as much when he shoots a 3-point shot — whether it goes in or doesn't go in.

'He puts in so much time. He works and works and works. It's fun to see a guy get rewarded.'

It obviously remains to be seen if Jesperson can sustain Saturday's production, as he did in non-conference. But if he can, the Panthers feel they're finally getting back to the cohesion and effectiveness on offense they saw when things were at their previous peak in November.

As UNI welcomes Missouri State to McLeod Center for a rematch of the loss on Jan. 6, Jacobson hopes the Panthers can capitalize on the recent shift to match their previous season high of five straight wins.

'Right now, five or six guys (together), you're starting to see that more than what we have in a while, and Paul is obviously a big part of that,' Jacobson said. 'When Wes (Washpun) gets to doing his thing and Paul, Bo (Matt Bohannon) and Jeremy (Morgan) are knocking in shots and Bennett (Koch)'s going around the basket — or Klint (Carlson) or Wyatt (Lohaus) or whoever's in — we're very capable of putting five guys on the floor who can play offense.

'Right now this is as close as we've been of having the entire group playing at a high level, and playing with the kind of confidence it takes to play well.'

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