Hlas: Panthers keeping pedal to the metal

CEDAR FALLS - The question of whether Northern Iowa belongs in the men's basketball Top 25 was answered weeks ago. A different query may soon echo across the Cedar Valley.

Namely, can this 22-2 UNI team win its way into the Top Ten?

The answer is a clear yes, though the operative word is 'can.” It won't happen when Monday's polls are released, but the No. 15 Panthers are nudging ever closer. Their 69-53 triumph over Drake Saturday night in the McLeod Center was the latest piece of proof they keep improving as the season grows older.

'I just think we can keep getting better, and we have over the last 10 days,” UNI Coach Ben Jacobson said. 'I just keep seeing improvement.”

The Panthers' ranking in the coaches' poll - already their highest ever - will only get better Monday. No. 12 West Virginia got pounded 87-69 at home by Baylor Saturday. Nos. 9, 10, 11 and 13 also lost last week, but all were on the road against credible foes.

So look for UNI to be no lower than 14th, and maybe even a notch higher if, say, No. 10 Notre Dame's 90-60 defeat at Duke is judged harshly by the voters.

None of which matters much to Jacobson or his team. All the Panthers seem consumed with is playing lockdown defense and winning the proverbial one game at a time. This was one of the few games in which a UNI opponent wasn't held under 40 percent shooting from the floor, so Jacobson has fuel for his team's next practice.

He noted 'It felt like the roof caved in” at one point when Drake hit consecutive jumpers for a 5-0 run.

'That's good,” he added. 'The guys need to feel that way.”

What must Drake have felt like the way the Panthers were popping in perimeter shots? They sank eight three-pointers in the first half alone, and 11 overall. Matt Bohannon was 4-of-4 from long-range. Teammate Paul Jesperson was 4-of-5.

'That definitely takes a lot of pressure off Tuttle,” Jesperson said.

Senior power forward Seth Tuttle deftly reacted to a collapsing Drake defense in the first half. He had assists on three of those Panther first-half threes, firing to open teammates when the Bulldogs sagged on him. He also fed Nate Buss for a jam in the waning seconds of the half.

Tuttle is a pleasure to watch. He is the heart of this team, an example-setter who clearly has put in a lot of work to keep improving in so many facets.

This season feels more and more like the one of five years ago that was the most-glorious in UNI's history. That ended at the NCAA's Sweet 16, with Jacobson's Panthers the owners of a 30-5 record and an NCAA win over Kansas that is a permanent part of postseason lore.

That team also began the season 22-2. It won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and conference titles. This season's Panthers have much work to do to achieve either, let alone both.

But these guys pass the eyeball test. They're very good and they're hard-nosed. It looks like each win just makes them hungrier.

'It's a nice thing,” Bohannon said of the ranking, 'but we know we've got to keep getting better on a daily basis.”

That's easy to say. But the Panthers seem intent on doing it. It is steadily becoming a special season here.

l Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com