Big run sparks dominant UNI victory

DES MOINES - At halftime, it was a slugfest.

No. 23 Northern Iowa had gone back and forth with Drake throughout the first half, at one point trailing by nine at 14-5. The Panthers (14-2, 3-1 Missouri Valley Conference) went into the break up just two, at 31-29, and with their coach more than a little unhappy.

'We got to halftime and coach got into us a little bit and told us we needed to pick it up and bring a little more intensity,” said senior guard Matt Bohannon.

Well, it's safe to say they brought it in the second half.

UNI had trailed, 29-27, with 1:09 to go in the first half, and over the next 14:45 of game time across the two halves, the Panthers outscored the Bulldogs (3-13, 0-4), 32-2 - including hitting 10 straight field goals in the middle of the run. The run put the game as far out of reach en route to a 64-40 victory on Saturday in which Drake had only 11 second half points.

'I told ‘em we needed to play harder,” said Coach Ben Jacobson about the halftime message. 'I got after them just a little bit at halftime. And we played with tremendous effort in the second half. We forced Drake to have to take tough shots, and that got us in transition. Next thing you know it's (a) 10 (point lead), then we got a chance to get it to the next spot, and we got away from them.”

Amid the 32-2 run were some highlight-reel plays on offense from Deon Mitchell, Jeremy Morgan and Matt Bohannon with alley-oops, dunks and 3-pointers.

But Jacobson circled back to his message of effort and what's guided UNI all season - the defense. That was where the run started and what kept it going, he said.

'As good as our defense has been, that's the most effort we've put in, I think, defensively (during the run),” Jacobson said. 'We've had a lot of guys play hard defensively. As a unit, that's the hardest we've played. That made the most difference, and it allowed us to get into an offensive rhythm. If we didn't score in transition, when the guys got set, they did great. Whoever's hands it ended up in, they ended up getting a basket for us.

'The effort we played with defensively was the difference.”

Morgan led the Panthers with 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and led the team with eight rebounds. Mitchell couldn't seem to miss either, going 6 of 7 from the field - 2 of 2 from deep - finishing with 14 points, three assists and two rebounds.

When the run was at its peak, and UNI seemed invincible, a snowball effect of confidence allowed the Panthers to execute in a way they hadn't in the first half.

'Getting stops and pushing in transition, that's something we've been doing good all season. So once we got a stop, just looked to push in transition and find the open guys was working well for us today,” Mitchell said. 'It feels good, especially after struggling in the first half. We were able to get stops like we know we can. It builds a lot of momentum, and that's when it started going.”

Nearly the entirety of the run came with all five UNI starters in the game, too.

Jacobson didn't sub anyone in or out until there was 9:20 left in the game, when Wes Washpun came in for Morgan and the run had gotten to 29-2. The UNI bench had just eight points total, with five from Wyatt Lohaus and a 3-pointer from Klint Carlson, well after the game was all but decided.

Seth Tuttle had 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting, four rebounds and four assists. Marvin Singleton had nine points on 4 of 4 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists of his own. And Bohannon had six points on 2 of 6 shooting - all from 3-point range - and added three assists.

Jacobson said after the Loyola game he felt like the starters had more success because they were more familiar with the style of play, and that carried over to Saturday. He wasn't about to mess with what was working, either.

'They were playing so well, I wasn't going to sub. So I went with them as long as we could, and by the time I subbed Wes in for Jeremy, they had gotten it to 20 or more - just a result of how well they were playing,” Jacobson said. 'It's important, I think, for our team to continue to play a lot of guys (in the future). I'd like to get nine and even 10 guys into double-figure minutes when we play so guys continue to gain experience and you can battle off foul trouble, you can battle off an injury (and) guys stay fresher through the season.

'I think those guys (without prior experience) have played enough games now, they're plenty ready for what we've got coming.”

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