Rebounding still the refrain for UNI

CEDAR FALLS - It's been a constant refrain for most of this season, but Northern Iowa men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson came back to rebounding again Monday at his weekly media availability.

The No. 23 Panthers (12-2, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference) have a season edge in rebounding on opponents, but only by 0.7 rebounds per game, and have been out-rebounded in four straight games - by 6.75 rebounds per game.

It's at the top of Jacobson's mind, and he said he's doing all he can to coach it in practice, but at a certain point, the players will have to step up themselves and fix what's wrong. That point, he said Monday, has come.

'I've been talking about (rebounding) since October. That's just going to have to change. Guys are going to have to take some ownership and it's going to have to change,” Jacobson said. 'At some point they need to take ownership for it to really get good. And we're at that point.”

The problem, too, is the guys he's usually relied on to be the go-to rebounders haven't been piling up those numbers like normal.

Aside from his eight-rebound performance on Sunday against Loyola, starting forward and the second-leading rebounder on the team Marvin Singleton averaged three rebounds per game in the stretch where the team has been out-rebounded. Seth Tuttle, who leads the team at 5.9 rebounds per game, has been below his average at 4.75 rebounds per game in the same four-game stretch.

While it's not been a problem that's cost them tons of victories, it did hinder them against Evansville and Loyola to the point where they weren't able to exploit the transition game exactly as they wanted and allowed opposing teams many more offensive rebounds and second chances than Jacobson would've liked.

It's always a point of focus, Jacobson said, but the importance jumps up in conference play. And to this point, he and his staff have done all they can to hammer it home. When asked what he does to keep himself from getting frustrated with the guys after working on it so much and not seeing the results, he answered before the question was finished.

'Oh, I've been frustrated. It's time for that to happen. It is,” Jacobson said. 'I don't know there's a way you can really make them do anything. They are 18 to 22 years old. We've got a lot of guys who are 21 and 22 years old, so they're big boys. We watch a lot of film, we do a lot of drills, we've got a lot of charts. I couldn't have any more stuff to do with rebounding.”

It's the age point that seems to stick out, too, when Jacobson talks about rebounding. He put it on the leaders of the team, who happen to be seniors, to do their job.

He's going to do his, he said, and when they do theirs it'll get better.

'It's different than having a bunch of freshmen and sophomores. They need to take ownership of it. That's their job. And when they do it, we're going to get better,” Jacobson said. 'That's part of going through the season is growing and getting your team better. We'll continue to watch the things we need to, we'll continue to coach the things we need to in terms of rebounding.”

STARTERS STEPPING UP

Throughout the non-conference portion of the season, the UNI bench had become its salvation in many cases, topping out at a 45-10 advantage in bench points in the win against South Dakota State.

But as the Panthers have moved into MVC play, it's been the starters who have carried the load. The bench scoring output slowed, with 22 against Evansville and 16 against Loyola. Paul Jesperson in particular has struggled off the bench in the two conference games, failing to score in either game and going 0 of 3 from the field combined.

Jacobson said that's as much to do with experience against MVC opponents as anything, and expects things to turn back toward what was seen in non-conference play.

'I think it's more about conference play. Even though it's the first game of league play, everybody knows everybody - even though you're in Game 1 and Game 2,” Jacobson said. 'You get defended differently, the games are a little bit different. The guys in the starting lineup were all guys who were here last year. They've got a little better feel for that, they've got more experience with that. My hope is being through two of them will be enough for Paul, in particular.

'I think, really, it's Paul coming back to life Wednesday, and I think he will. He's an experienced guy, he's a competitive guy and I expect him to be back in there Wednesday.”

GETTING BACK IN ROUTINE

Ever the practice junkie, Jacobson is most excited about being able to get in the conference schedule routine - especially when classes resume for the players.

Having two games a week, spaced evenly will benefit this team, he said. The inconsistencies of early in the season and throughout break were difficult to overcome and will be a welcome omission.

'When we started the season I think we played seven games in 16 days. And most of that went really well,” Jacobson said. 'I think the guys enjoyed playing the games every couple days. I enjoy being at practice. When we got past that part of it, we got more days in between there. Had a week before George Mason, and a week before the Iowa game, and coming out of the break it's been different for about a month.

'It'll be good to get in that routine where you've got either two or three days in between. It'll be the same now until we get into the first part of March. I think that'll be good for this team.”

THIS WEEK

Northern Iowa hosts Southern Illinois (7-8, 0-2 MVC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the McLeod Center, and that game can be seen live on KCRG 9.2. The Panthers then go on the road to Des Moines to face Drake at the Knapp Center on Saturday at 3 p.m.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com