UNI men’s basketball gets time to work on multiple areas in 90-50 win over Loras

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa cruised to a 90-50, home-opening win Tuesday night at McLeod Center against Loras.

The Panthers (1-1) extended an early 10-point lead to 20 with a 10-0 run midway through the first half as Landon Wolf and Trey Campbell each hit 3s, while Nate Heise and Tytan Anderson penetrated the Duhawks’ defense with contested layups.

“Going into (this) game we just wanted to get the ball up and down quick. We wanted to make them work on defense (and) not always take quick shots,” UNI guard Nate Heise said.

Leading 32-12 with seven minutes left in the first half, UNI’s defense put the clamps on NCAA Division-III Loras (2-1) with a lineup of mostly starters.

Heise, Anderson, Jacob Hutson and Michael Duax largely led a defensive effort that limited the Duhawks to seven points the last 10:47 of the half.

“We started switching (our defense) five ways a little bit,” UNI forward Tytan Anderson said. “So, just changing the game plan and adjusting as we go has been really good (for) us against North Texas and this game as well.”

Struggles at the line

Despite its comfortable early lead, UNI struggled at the free throw line, making just 13 of its 24 first-half attempts.

“It’s something over the years that unless I feel like there’s something with their shot a little bit I really don’t talk to them about (free throws),” UNI coach Ben Jacobson said. “They’re putting in the kind of time they need to, so we’ll get rolling a little bit there.”

Reserves get time to shine

Leading 47-19 at halftime, UNI benched all its starters but Duax for the final 12:10 of the game and had its reserves respond to the ample playing time with a 21-4 run that spanned nearly eight minutes.

“RJ (Taylor’s) ability to get the ball moving up and down the floor, that helps everybody play better,” Jacobson said. “He’s active and disruptive defensively, but then he helps his teammates play better with that pace he plays with offensively. Kyle (Pock) got settled in and I think made most of his 3s in that stretch (too).”

Anderson, Campbell and Pock led UNI with 14 points apiece, while Heise finished with 13.

Injury report and roster update

Bowen Born (hip flexor) missed the game after Jacobson said he experienced discomfort during defensive slides in practice this past weekend, but added that he’s hopeful he’ll return to practice Thursday.

Chase Courbat (concussion) also missed the game after bumping heads in practice, but participated in Tuesday’s shootaround and felt good afterwards.

Sophomore guard Ege Peksari — who didn’t play in last Tuesday’s season-opener against North Texas — didn’t see action tonight against Loras and may potentially be redshirting this season.

“We’ve talked about it. We haven’t made a final decision,” Jacobson said. “Talked about redshirting him if that’s the best thing for what we’re doing as a program (and) also for him is it best with where he’s at right now on the depth chart.”

UNI travels to South Florida (1-0) Sunday for a 4 p.m. tip-off at Yuengling Center.