3 questions facing UNI men’s basketball entering 2017-18

CEDAR FALLS — After a 14-16 record a season ago that didn't meet expectations, Northern Iowa men's basketball appears to be set up for a return to its 20-plus win standard.

There's also opportunity for the Panthers to take advantage of a Missouri Valley Conference that's now without Wichita State, which won four of the past five regular-season championships.

With 14 returnees and two exciting, promising freshmen on the roster, there's practical reasons to be excited about the Panthers in 2017-18.

With media day set for Wednesday, here are three things to watch for as UNI aims for a 2017-18 MVC championship.

1. How can UNI improve its rebounding?

Before the offseason even began. there was talk about how the Panthers would need to get better in the rebounding department before the 2017-18 season. While it's not advisable to only evaluate the Panthers' rebounding woes by way of a simplistic win-loss-tie metric, they were — for what it's worth — 5-20-4 last season against their competition on the glass.

Associate head coach Kyle Green has mentioned multiple times this offseason UNI has done more rebounding drills than any other offseason he's been on staff. Perhaps more importantly, Green has talked about the Panthers' work on having a mind-set that will be productive when it comes to grabbing rebounds.

'We wanted, we had, a game plan for the first seven practices, and the No. 1 thing at the top of that game plan was to rebound the ball,' Green said in a recent interview on KXEL-AM. 'That's been an emphasis in every practice. In every drill we've done. In everything we've talked about. Finishing plays, finishing possessions, rebounding the ball. We want to play with pace on offense and you can't do that unless you rebound the ball. If you want to limit other team's possessions defensively you can't do that unless you rebound the ball.'

2. Just how ready are the freshmen?

UNI had eight players see the floor for the first time last season. Two of those eight were true freshmen — Juwan McCloud and Isaiah Brown.

Coming into last season hopes were high McCloud would be able to take the starting point guard job and run with it, but it didn't quite work out as hoped. McCloud was in and out of the starting lineup as he dealt with shooting struggles and occasional bouts of poor decision-making.

This season, the Panthers have another freshman duo again being talked about as ready to play right away in Tywhon Pickford and Austin Phyfe.

'I truly think both of them have an opportunity to contribute right away,' Green said. 'I really do. At this point in time I think both of them have an opportunity to impact this team this year. To what degree and to decide if we're going to redshirt them or not redshirt them, I don't think we're there yet. They've done a phenomenal job of adjusting through the summer and into the fall and in our first 10 days of practice.'

While the summer Prime Time League is nowhere near the competitive level of the regular season, Pickford looked like he belonged this summer. Multiple 20-plus point performances and the ability to rebound and drive to the basket against UNI and Iowa forwards gave the impression the Minnesota product could help the Panthers right away.

Phyfe, a promising frontcourt piece from Waverly-Shell Rock, didn't play in the PTL due to an ankle injury, but has been talked about positively ever since he got on campus. Just like Pickford, Phyfe's body appears ready — something that's not always a given with Northern Iowa freshmen.

3. Will offseason shooting work pay off?

Besides rebounding troubles, the Panthers had an uncharacteristic season shooting the ball in 2016-17. Thirty-nine percent from the field and 32 percent from behind the 3-point stripe made life much more difficult than usual. Typically shooting has been one of the better — and most consistent — elements of Ben Jacobson teams at UNI. Perhaps last season was an aberration, but according to Green if there are struggles this season it won't be due to a lack of preparation.

'Shooting (work) really started at the end of last season,' he said. 'We knew we were a better shooting team than we showed last year. So the guys have been in the gym religiously.

'Klint Carlson's gotten up more shots in this last month then guys will get in a whole year. They've really bought into that. The only way you can get confidence is through demonstrating ability. You've got to practice and practice and practice. Once you've practiced enough, you know. It takes 10,000 hours to master something and our guys have put darn near 10,000 hours into shooting the ball the last six months, so, excited to see how that pays off.'