UNI sets record with 20 3-pointers in 86-58 blowout of South Dakota State

CEDAR FALLS — Forget the great ball movement and the confidence that seemed to come out of nowhere.

The reason the Northern Iowa Panthers set a school record for 3-pointers in a game Wednesday night had to be because former shooter deluxe Matt Bohannon was doing television color commentary of this 86-58 blowout of South Dakota State at McLeod Center. Right?

No one could stroke the trey better than the former Linn-Mar guard, the school's career leader in that department. It just had to be that whole osmosis thing that allowed UNI (4-4) to make 20 triples en route to ending a nagging four-game losing streak.

'Obviously making shots makes everything easier,' said Northern Iowa Coach Ben Jacobson. 'You want to get back (defensively), you want to rebound. It makes it a lot more fun for everybody when shots go in.'

Crazy how the Panthers couldn't have hit water had they fallen out of a boat just a week ago in this very same arena, UNI shot a disturbing 25.9 percent in an unexpected loss to George Mason.

But most everything went in Wednesday night. Northern Iowa was 20 of 37 beyond the arc, completely carving up South Dakota State's 1-3-1 zone defense.

'Definitely confidence,' said UNI guard Hunter Rhodes, who made six 3s in a career-high 20-point night. 'The past four games, we haven't been shooting as well as we usually would as a team. But we knew they were going to be in the zone most of the time, and we knew with the smart players that we have, we would have open shots. We just had to have the confidence we'd make them, and that's what we did tonight.'

UNI's previous 3-point makes record was 17. The 37 3-point attempts also was a school record.

Northern Iowa, which led at the break by a 49-25 margin, went an astonishing 11 minutes and seven seconds in the first half and early in the second between points that weren't 3-point related. There were 10 triples in that span, a streak broken by a steal and layup from freshman guard Juwan McCloud.

He and Rhodes, the Kirkwood Community College transfer, combined for 28 points and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 8-0.

'I don't know what our assist total was tonight, but it had to be high,' McCloud said. 'That's what Coach was stressing this week in practice.'

The assist total was 21, by the way.

'I thought we played with great confidence for a team that has lost a couple in a row,' Jacobson said. 'To play with that kind of confidence says a lot about the leadership of our older guys. The ability to be able to bounce back from a little bit of a tough stretch.

'The patience that they showed just made it an easier game for us on offense. The guys were able to take their time, knowing that they could get into a gap, make an extra pass and find somebody as that shot clock got down under 10. That's not always easy to do, especially when you're struggling.'

For what he said were a variety of reasons, Jacobson employed a unique starting lineup that consisted of holdovers McCloud and Jeremy Morgan and newbies Ted Friedman, freshman Isaiah Brown and red-shirt freshman Spencer Haldeman. The coach said he didn't know who would start Saturday night's home game against North Dakota.

The hope is junior guard Wyatt Lohaus will be a go then. He sat out again with an ankle injury that is improving.

That'll give the Panthers another potential 3-point marksman.

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