Buss, UNI bench thriving this season

CEDAR FALLS - No. 23 Northern Iowa has gone deep into its bench all season.

Coach Ben Jacobson has rotated 10 players regularly throughout the first 12 games, with at least one and usually a few of those bench players having a significant impact each time out. Apart from Wes Washpun, who plays starter minutes and is second on the team at 11.8 points per game, the one who's stepped up has been a rotation.

In the Panthers' 74-63 win against South Dakota State on Sunday, that player was Nate Buss, who had a season-high 14 points. His were among 45 total bench points UNI (11-1) scored in the game.

'They've been good all year,” Jacobson said. 'I think we've got one of the best benches in the entire country. I don't think there's much doubt about that. Those guys have just been terrific and (Sunday) we needed them again.

'Nate made a big shot when we were up five (60-55, with 5:49 left), Paul (Jesperson) hit a big 3 to get it to double figures, and Wes continues to play great basketball. And Wyatt wasn't in the last four or five minutes, but he had another great basketball game. Those guys are good.”

Three bench players are in the top five in scoring for the Panthers, with Washpun, Jesperson (7.3 points), and Buss (6.3) joining starters Seth Tuttle (14.0) and Deon Mitchell (6.8).

Buss, who entered the season coming off a toe injury that had sidelined him all summer, said it was important to him to be able to have a breakout game and have the moment where he was the one his teammates could lean on in a game again.

Injuries have a way of putting doubt in players' minds that only playing well can cast away.

'We have a lot of guys who can come off the bench and do great things. Obviously Wes has been stepping up for us every game,” Buss said. 'But to be able to come in and have a big game today against a really good team, it felt great. It's been a while since I've done something like that, and to be able to step up to help my team like that felt really good.”

To that end, Jacobson said Buss has been 'all the way back” for a few weeks.

But being healthy and being ready are two different things, he said. Sunday's performance was a pretty solid indication he's both.

'I haven't heard him talk about the injury for a good month. Maybe even longer. He's been healthy for a while,” Jacobson said. 'But just because you're healthy doesn't mean you're right. You've still missed a lot of reps, still not in game shape, all of those kind of things. He had to catch up. But he's been all the way back for a couple weeks, and he's practiced really well.

'Nate's been practicing great for two-plus weeks. (Sunday) he had an opportunity and really helped our team.”

With conference play starting Thursday at Evansville, UNI will need that to continue.

So it's music to Panther fans' ears to hear the sharpshooting Buss - 50 percent from the field, 41.4 percent from 3-point range - he doesn't think about the injury anymore. If his contributions off the bench move into Washpun territory, UNI will only continue to improve.

'Getting back into a rhythm defensively has been my biggest challenge to overcome,” Buss said. 'I think I've been slowly getting back into that rhythm. The injury doesn't really affect me at all anymore. I hardly even notice it. Going forward, it's looking pretty good.”

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