UNI survives late scare in win at Bradley

CEDAR FALLS - For 30 minutes on Tuesday night against Bradley, No. 22 Northern Iowa played the way Coach Ben Jacobson wanted on both ends of the floor.

The Panthers (15-2, 4-1 Missouri Valley Conference) had a lead that had floated around 20 - plus or minus two or three - for nearly 20 minutes of play, and had held the Braves (6-12, 1-4) below 30 percent shooting. They seemed headed for an easy win.

But over the last 10, Bradley worked its way back in with full court pressure and taking advantage of a UNI offense that had slowed its pace way down from earlier. The lead was as close as six at 56-50 with 1:18 to go, but the Panthers were able to hold on for a 63-52 victory.

It may not have been the way they wanted it, but Jacobson's squad got a coveted road win in the MVC.

'I really hope the guys remember only the first 30 minutes of the game - the way we played and got ourselves out to that 20-point lead,” Jacobson said. 'I know we've got enough experience on this team (where) we can learn from the last five minutes, but on the bus ride home, they need to be feeling the first 30 minutes. We came in here and got a road win. You get a road win in this league, it's great. And that's how we should feel. Our guys will, and then we'll learn some things from the end.”

The Panthers came out to start the game on the same level they finished against Drake last Saturday. They hit 10 of their first 12 shots, and went on a 26-4 run in the middle 10:32 of the first half.

Scoring was balanced among everyone who played, with all nine players at three points or more. They were led once again by Seth Tuttle, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, going 9 of 9 at the free throw line, many in the late stages to seal the win. Nate Buss finished with 11 points and seven rebounds of his own, while Paul Jesperson had nine points on 3 of 4 shooting from deep.

Getting out to that kind of start and being that efficient on both ends for a second game in a row - again on the road - was something Jacobson thought would be vital for a win.

'I thought that was certainly going to be one of the keys and really important for this game because we played so well in that second half (against Drake), and we were able to do it again on both ends,” Jacobson said. 'Our offense and defense I thought were terrific in the first half.”

But that last stretch certainly wasn't ignored by Jacobson and the players after the game.

There was a difference in intensity from the first half to the second half, particularly the last 10 minutes as Jacobson pointed out. The combination of the Braves' aggression in full court pressure to work their way back in the game and the Panthers' willingness to be patient, something was lost in translation.

'We were a lot more aggressive (at the start),” said Deon Mitchell, who had eight points on 3 of 5 shooting. 'They started to press us a little bit, so we started to slow down in some of our plays. We were just trying to stick with it and execute all the plays we had.”

Jacobson took that on himself after the game.

The benefit of hindsight told him maybe there were some things he could've done differently. But nonetheless, his players were able to work through it and extend their conference win streak to four before heading home for a Sunday game against Missouri State at the McLeod Center.

'As much as anything, it goes to my shoulders. Not that we were doing things I wouldn't maybe do again, (but) Bradley extended their pressure,” Jacobson said. 'Their guards came out and really put pressure on Wes and denied some handoffs. At that point, I have to get us in something else. I have to put us in something else so we can run something that's more effective against their pressure instead of running the same things we ran for 30 minutes that were really effective for us. That falls mostly on my shoulders.”

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