Jacobson: staff, players get credit for UNI win vs UNC

CEDAR FALLS — As UNI fans buzzed around McLeod Center, delaying leaving the court as long as possible after celebrating Northern Iowa's monumental upset of then-No. 1 North Carolina, the Tar Heels' head coach was answering questions from media.

Actually, before Roy Williams was even asked a question, he went out of his way to tell everyone with a recorder or camera he hadn't done a good enough coaching job.

'I'm very disappointed in me, more so than my team,' Williams said at the time. 'We acted like a team that had not been coached very well out there.'

On Monday, in his weekly press luncheon in Cedar Falls, Jacobson laughed off any notion he'd out-coached a Hall of Famer and two-time national champ.

Williams, Jacobson said, is the type of guy to always give others credit. If that's true for Williams, it is for Jacobson as well.

'I would tell you two things, and maybe a third,' Jacobson said. 'I'll start with this: They were up 16 and it was about to be over. At that point, by his reasoning, I was getting severely out-coached, right? They had an All-American on the bench we all wish would've played. Had (Marcus Paige) played and our point guard not played, the game is different. I appreciate his comments, and he's that way with everything he does. That's who he is.

'I'm glad I've had a chance to get to know him and have a friendship with him as opposed to just knowing him as a coach, because he's a terrific guy. I appreciate his comments, but it wasn't the case.'

Anyone who knows Jacobson knows he wasn't ever going to take Williams' comments and run with them in any kind of self-serving manner.

But there's no denying what he and his staff have done in recruiting, coaching and preparing the players who went out and executed at the highest level against the nation's top-ranked team is superb. Jacobson pointed to how he and his staff practice this group — like they have every other — so they would be ready for situations like they faced against UNC.

Sometimes the lessons take better than others. This time they took. And in true Jacobson fashion, his staff — specifically assistants P.J. Hogan, Kyle Green and Erik Crawford — and players got the credit.

'Our staff, as they always do, did a terrific job. We were ready,' Jacobson said. 'We did the right things. And the leadership of Paul (Jesperson), Bo (Matt Bohannon) and Wes (Washpun) at the point in the second half when you're down 16 — and our guys were certainly well-aware of how good the team we were playing is — you could easily have started doing things you haven't done before to try and get back in the game. The reason our guys didn't do that is because our three seniors — and Jeremy (Morgan) as well — those four guys understood continuing to do the things we're good at, up 16 or down 16, you've got to continue to do them.'

That process isn't bound to stop anytime soon.

UNI (2-1) hosts Dubuque on Wednesday night in McLeod Center and then heads to Grand Forks, N.D., to play Jacobson's alma mater in the newly-renamed North Dakota Fighting Hawks. The team was seventh among teams receiving votes, just outside the AP Top 25 rankings released Monday, and also received votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

He and his staff certainly won't change how they prepare the Panthers — especially after a singular win — and will want to build off what's worked to ensure they take care of business again.

Some built-in recovery time has been and will be crucial for UNI, as the emotional and physical recovery time can be a daunting task after such a big win.

'It's good we had a day off (Sunday) and play Wednesday; that we didn't turn right around and play tonight, possibly, so the guys had some time to themselves (Sunday),' Jacobson said. 'You get through all your stuff with family and friends Saturday, digest it a little bit Sunday, so timing-wise with our prep, having (Sunday) off was good.

'We'll practice (Monday) afternoon and be well over it and ready to go.'

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