UNI men’s basketball trying to build on recent success

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa men’s basketball is focused on continuing to build after its best seven-day stretch of the season.

Starting last Sunday with a 22-point win in its Missouri Valley Conference home-opener against Evansville, the Panthers averaged 86.7 points per game in three MVC wins over the Purple Aces, Valparaiso and Missouri State.

Part of UNI’s offensive outburst can be attributed to assistant coach Seth Tuttle.

The Gazette learned last week the Panthers did a harsh self-scout after losses to Liberty and Wyoming two weeks ago at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. Turns out Tuttle — who remained in Cedar Falls due to illness — was especially moved by the team’s shortcomings after being forced to watch on television.

Fellow assistant Erik Crawford, who spoke in place of an absent Ben Jacobson at Monday’s news conference, elaborated on Tuttle’s TV-derived critiques.

“We got into situations — whether it was Liberty, we got up double digits early — then ended up taking some quick shots and really didn’t allow our offense to work,” he said. “Then they were also able to get back into it kind of based on some of the shots we took.

“I think it just gave (Tuttle) a different perspective watching from home. When you’re in it you don’t always see it as clearly as when you’re watching it after the game on film or for him watching it on TV.”

UNI’s dramatic one-point win at Missouri State on Saturday included 16 points from Noah Carter and 18 important minutes off the bench from center Austin Phyfe.

Before the win over the Bears, Phyfe (long COVID) had played only five minutes combined against Evansville and Valparaiso, but helped guard All-MVC forward Gaige Prim while scoring six points and dishing out two assists in the win over Missouri State.

“He was huge for us,” Crawford said. “He found a way to give us some very quality minutes. He’s fighting through some stuff that I think every team’s got some, but what he has is pretty tough.”

Carter, meanwhile, has solidified himself as a formidable scorer. The third-year sophomore is averaging a career-high 12.7 points per game despite moving between power forward and center as a result of Phyfe’s health.

“He’s been asked to do a lot of different things this year,” Crawford said. “He’s done a great job of finding his ways to create matchup problems. His scoring punch has been huge because, without Phyfe, we need an inside presence and Noah’s been able to either get switches and go in there and score for us on the block or at least make some of the defense have to decide if they want to switch or not switch.”

UNI hosts Indiana State (8-6, 1-1) on Tuesday night. Due to health and safety protocols, the Sycamores have had their last two MVC games postponed and haven’t played since a Jan. 2 win against Bradley and haven’t practiced since the last Wednesday.

Indiana State is led by first-year coach Josh Schertz and guards Cooper Neese and Cameron Henry, who average 16.3 and 14.1 points per game, respectively.

“They’re as good of a challenge of guarding the basketball as any team in the league with four, five, six, seven guys that can all drive it and get to the paint,” Crawford said.

Tipoff at McLeod Center is at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).