Coe embraces opportunityto play at Northern Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS - No matter the outcome, Coe men's basketball coach Pat Juchem said his team can't lose tonight when the Kohawks open the season against defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Northern Iowa.

Tipoff is 7 p.m. at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls.

“It's a win-win for us,” said Juchem, whose Kohawks play in the NCAA Division III Iowa Conference. That's two levels and 13 scholarships below UNI, which reached the Sweet 16 of last year's NCAA Division I tournament. “Anytime you get a chance to play a nonconference game against an opponent like Northern Iowa, it's an opportunity to measure yourself and get better.

“Our guys have been looking forward to this game since it was announced. We're going to be playing in a great environment. When you grow up you always dream about playing on the biggest stage possible. This is a pretty big stage for our guys. It's a memory that will last a lifetime.”

There also is a financial benefit. Juchem declined to say how much cash is involved in tonight's game and an exhibition loss at Northern Illinois, but he did say that the money will go toward a 10-day trip to Greece the basketball team has planned for May.

“It won't offset all the costs,” he said. “But it is a positive aspect of these games.”

Juchem said the Kohawks are out to rebound from a 4-21 campaign of a year ago that placed them in the Iowa Conference cellar.

“We have had success here,” said Juchem, whose teams are 69-62 in his five seasons as coach. “Last year was disappointing and not up to our standards. We weren't quite ready to win the close games. But the expectation is to compete for championships here and we expect to do so again soon.”

Northern Iowa has won 15 straight games in the McLeod Center.

“The names have changed, but this is the same team,” Juchem said of UNI. “They have the same culture, the same discipline. Their kids have experienced winning and they expect to win.”

- By Mike Koolbeck