Jacobson: UNI must stay together, get tougher

CEDAR FALLS — Amid a four-game losing streak, the line between using the frustration of losing as determination to improve and folding in on themselves is very thin for the Northern Iowa men's basketball team.

The well-documented fall from 8-5 in the non-conference with heralded wins against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2/5 Iowa State has been as unexpected for the team and program as it has everyone else who pays attention. After a 76-67 road loss at Illinois State, more questions of how and why it's gotten to this point roll in.

The short answer is even the Panthers players and coaches aren't really sure. They insist there's no blame-game being played among the players, and that practice and preparation remain solid. Coach Ben Jacobson said Monday that hope isn't all lost for several reasons, but mostly because those two things haven't changed.

'My message is always around doing what you can each day to be prepared, and you never know when it's going to jump back on the tracks. They know there's a lot of season left,' Jacobson said. 'The only way to make it so hard that it can't get back on the tracks is to start to pick at each other, and start to do some of those things — and that's not been a part of our program for a long, long time. Those are the two things that allow our guys to work hard to stay on the same page and stay together to get themselves in position to get over the hump.'

Still, there's a disconnect between how UNI (10-11, 2-6 Missouri Valley Conference) practices and how it plays. Clearly frustration is starting to set in — as it would with any team in a situation like the Panthers are facing.

In the four straight losses, UNI has shot 75 of 201 (37.3 percent) from the field, 27 of 91 (29.7 percent) from 3-point range, has been out-rebounded by 8.75 rebounds per game (a minus-35 rebounding deficit in the last four games) and has given up an average of nine offensive rebounds per game.

What's been most frustrating over the whole losing streak, Jacobson said, has been personified in two moments in the last two games. Against Wichita State, at 46-40 midway through the second half, UNI went on a scoreless drought, and the Shockers' lead ballooned. Against Illinois State, UNI was within four with 11 minutes to go, and empty possessions and missed rebounds led to the Redbirds' lead growing back above 10.

Jacobson tried different offensive looks — much less high ball-screen initiation of offensive possessions, and a rare 2-3 zone on defense — but neither proved to be the right formula.

'We've got to get tougher in those situations. That's the most frustrating point, especially for the older guys,' Jacobson said. 'They're in a situation where they understand where they're at and where we're at and felt like it was going to be very different after eight conference games. That is where I would tell you the most frustration creeps in — in our inability right now to do better in those situations.'

It's easy to forget that last year, in the middle of the conference season, UNI nearly faced a very similar situation. In three straight games — at home against Indiana State, and on the road against Illinois State and Southern Illinois — the Panthers trailed in the second half and had to scramble for victory. In the case of the win in Normal, Ill., it took a Nate Buss game-winner from the corner.

Had UNI lost those three games, they enter a home game against Wichita State in a different frame of mind.

Jacobson wants to find that mind-set — the one that propelled them to a win last year in the scenarios they've been losses this season — as bad, or worse, than anyone. His effort is to find ways to recreate it in a new fashion without betraying what's gotten him this far as a coach.

'I've got to continue to do my job the best way I know how. … Now my job is to collectively find a way to get us playing a little bit better and get over the hump in one of these games,' Jacobson said. 'For the players, because they've done such a good job of staying together and preparing themselves, in order to take a real step forward, at some point you need all that to pay off.

'You need to cross the finish line with the lead. I'm hoping for them to — and expect they will — prepare for Wednesday and see if we can find a way to cross that finish line with a lead, be rewarded for their preparation and get themselves in a little better frame of mind.'

UNI goes to Peoria, Ill., on Wednesday to play Bradley (3-18, 1-7) at 8 p.m.

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