UNI men’s basketball searching for answers as losing streak extends to 5 games

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa’s men’s basketball struggles continued Saturday afternoon at McLeod Center as it lost its fifth consecutive game, 80-62, to Indiana State.

The Sycamores — who entered Saturday’s game having made 36 3-pointers in their previous two wins — built a 15-point first half lead with a 6-of-11 mark from distance and 50-percent shooting from the field.

Meanwhile, UNI — which had not shot above 30 percent from 3 in its previous two losses — finished the first 20 minutes 1-for-12 from 3 and just 11-for-31 (35%) from the field.

“Our first seven, eight minutes I thought we were good. I didn’t think we were great, but I thought we were good,” UNI coach Ben Jacobson said. “The guys really wanted to play well today, and I thought by (our) start we were going to, but we go 1-for-12 from 3 in the first half. We had some pretty good looks and we just couldn’t get going.”

Despite its shooting woes, a 9-0 run by the Panthers (12-14, 8-8 MVC) late in the first half got them within two possessions at 29-25 with 3:38 remaining. However, after Indiana State coach Josh Schertz called a timeout, the Sycamores finished the half on a 15-4 run to gain a 44-29 advantage at the break.

“It felt like we had to fight pretty hard just to get it to 29-25,” Jacobson said. “You don’t like to be in that spot 15 minutes into the game, but it was an important time in the game and all the sudden it’s (down by) 10 again. So now we’ve got to do it all over. That last seven, eight minutes I just felt like they were more physical than we were.”

UNI’s deficit quickly grew in the second half as Indiana State (18-9, 11-5) built its first-half 15-4 run to a 27-6 run after halftime for a 59-31 lead with 16:20 remaining.

The Panthers’ only counterpunch amounted to a 10-0 run that pulled them within 18 with 11:37 to play, but defensive breakdowns and shooting struggles proved too much to overcome as UNI finished just 6-for-23 from 3-point range.

Mired in its longest losing streak of the season, Jacobson acknowledged that it’s time for him and his staff to find something, if they can, that will help their struggling team.

“Whether it’s through our film work, whether it’s through individual workouts with guys, or our practices, what we talk about — we are going to have to find something,” Jacobson said. “Just to put a little bit of the wind back in our sails. The process will remain the same. This is where I’ve got to do a great job and our staff has got to do a great job.”

Courvoisier McCauley — who finished with a game-high 21 — scored 17 of his points during Indiana State’s 27-6 run that bookended each half. He was joined in double figures by Julian Larry and Grinnell native Cade McKnight, who scored 17 and 11 respectively.

Tytan Anderson led UNI with 13 points. No other Panthers reached double figures.

“It’s really tough (right now) because everyone goes through a little stretch. There’s teams around the league that have gone through that stretch and came out of it, so we know we will,” Anderson said. “We’ll weather the storm, but right now it sucks. It flat out sucks.”

UNI hosts Drake (21-6, 12-4) on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tip (ESPN+).