Hlas column: Oh brothers! NCAA-bound Panthers are deep and good

ST. LOUIS - This time, things could be a different for Northern Iowa in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. A lot different.

“We're going to win a game,” UNI Coach Ben Jacobson said. “And I think this - this group more than anything is proof we're going to have an opportunity to play in the tournament again. We're going to win a game in the tournament. I don't have any questions about that.”

Jacobson said that 50 weeks ago in Portland, Ore., after the Panthers lost 61-56 to Purdue in the first round of the 2009 NCAAs. It was UNI's fourth first-round loss in their four tries since 2004. All were by five points. None were upsets. UNI was the 14th, 11th, 10th and 12th seeds, respectively, in those losses to Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Georgetown, and Purdue.

This time, things could be a lot different. This time, the Panthers will be the lower-seed. This time, UNI will bring its best team ever.

“They'll win games in the NCAA tournament,” Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall said. “They'll win at least one, if not two games, in the NCAA tournament.”

Marshall stated that after his Shockers absorbed a 67-52 beating from UNI in the title game of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Sunday in the Scottrade Center. He knows a little about the postseason, having taken coached Winthrop to an upset over Notre Dame in the 2007 NCAAs.

Missouri Valley tournament? This might as well have been called the Cedar Valley Classic. UNI shut down its third-straight foe by 15 or more points with its 67-52 beating of 25-win Wichita State.

The Shockers were the ones that needed the victory to enter the NCAAs. The Panthers were the ones who most played like they absolutely had to have it.

Here's a nutshell scouting report for the at-large major-conference clubs or mid-major champions who could line up against the Panthers next week:

1. Get your mind ready for 40 minutes of the Panthers' defensive intensity. They allowed a paltry 44 points per game here after already ranking second in the nation in scoring defense.

2. Take every UNI player seriously. The Panthers had 10 genuine contributors in this tourney, including three freshmen who came to St. Louis averaging under three points per game.

Outside of junior point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe, who was dialed in all day as he knifed for 24 points and the tourney's Most Outstanding Player trophy, UNI's starters were outplayed by their backups.

The starters got outscored 24-12 in the first half, but the subs outpointed the Shockers 16-7 to keep UNI close. To be fair, the starters were primarily responsible for the 19-1 Panthers run in the second half that left MVC execs quietly muttering that their league would again get just one bid in the NCAAs.

Here's how deep UNI was on Sunday: The conference's senior Player of the Year didn't have a point in 25 minutes for the Panthers, but his freshman brother scored 13.

It's somebody else every game for this team. Adam Koch is perhaps the heartbeat of the team and is good for 12 points a game. Sunday, he took three shots, missed them all. He even misfired on his lone free-throw, and he's made 84 percent of those this year.

Jake Koch, a dead ringer for Adam though three years younger, hadn't scored in either of UNI's first two wins this weekend. So he notched 13 points.

In a three-minute span of the first half, Jake Koch not only hit a pair of 3-pointers, but took a charge, drew two other fouls, and had a steal.

“My little brother made some big plays out there,” Adam Koch said later, beaming. “The way he played today was just awesome. He can make plays like that all the time.”

Wichita State featured players from Phoenix, Houston, Kansas City and Las Vegas. Northern Iowa has a pair of brothers from Ashwaubenon, Wis.

It sure makes a coach a great recruiter when one of his best players has a younger brother with similar skills, size and mindset.

“They have been really good for each other,” Jacobson said. “Adam has had a tremendous impact on Jake's work ethic in terms of getting in the weight room, in terms of getting extra shots up, in terms of doing all the things you have to do to do what an Adam Koch does.”

These guys played like 10 brothers this weekend, cheering hard for each other and picking each other up. It's a team with 28 wins. Don't bet against a 29th.