Young Iowans starting to make a big impact for UNI men’s basketball

CEDAR FALLS — Two straight road wins in conference play is always an accomplishment, and Northern Iowa men’s basketball has done just that.

Since falling to 3-7 overall after a 72-69 home loss to South Florida on Dec. 12, the Panthers have won four of their last five games while showing improvement that’s kept them in the conversation for what’s quickly become a wide-open Missouri Valley Conference race.

“Our guys are learning. They’re getting experience as we go and we’re finding ways to win games, which is usually the hardest thing for a young team,” UNI assistant coach Seth Tuttle told The Gazette. “Right now they’re learning a ton about themselves. They’ve done a nice job just sticking with it.”

On Tuesday the Panthers (7-8, 3-2) picked up their second straight MVC road win, 69-67 at Valparaiso, courtesy a buzzer-beating put-back from redshirt freshman Michael Duax.

Duax, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the game, continues to be among a group of young Panthers showing the type of improvement that’s kept the team in contention. The Dubuque native is averaging 8.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and has registered a pair of double-doubles in his first season of regular playing time.

“Duax has no idea how good he is still, and that’s the fun part as a coach,” Tuttle said. “First of all, he’s a freak athletically. His explosiveness is just different. We just constantly tell him everyday, ‘hey, you can do this and you can do this,’ and as an offensive (coach) it’s kind of fun because you can use him in a whole bunch of different ways.”

Another relatively inexperienced Panther that’s been at the center of the team’s recent run of success is redshirt sophomore Cole Henry.

The Oskaloosa native is averaging 9.7 points in his previous six games. He’s also taken pressure off Bowen Born with his ability to handle the ball.

“Cole’s biggest thing is his confidence, and once he had a game kind of go the direction he envisioned it to go at the beginning of the year, he’s really done a nice job of blossoming and letting it snowball into other good performances,” Tuttle said. “His importance to our team is very high. Not only just his ability to pass and run our offense, but his overall ability to handle the basketball.”

UNI returns to McLeod Center Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN3), but faces one of the MVC’s hottest teams in Southern Illinois.

The Salukis are 12-4 overall, 4-1 in the MVC and have won seven straight.Tuttle said the Panthers will be challenged by SIU’s defense, which ranks 37th in the country.

“They’re going to be physical, they’re going to be handsy, they’re going to crawl into the ball and they’re going to rotate like crazy,” Tuttle said. “They defend their tails off and that comes from their coach. It’s going to be a dogfight and we need to make it a dogfight. We can’t be the ones that get punched and never respond.”