UNI basketball focused on defense in quick turnaround

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa men's basketball hasn't had to deal with losses — especially in non-conference — a ton in the last year or so.

Many of the guys who saw the floor in the Panthers' 84-78 loss on Saturday to Colorado State played a vital role the last two seasons and most often found ways to win. It was an uncharacteristic performance on defense and both players and coach said so.

Even with that reality, Coach Ben Jacobson isn't worried about how this version of UNI men's basketball handles a loss like that one.

'They were good on Sunday, which you would expect coming off a game like that. I'm not concerned that we won't get better each time we practice and each time we play,' Jacobson said Monday. 'Our guys are accustomed to that whether we win or lose. I'm not concerned about which direction we'll go after one basketball game.

'Our guys know — we talk about it all the time and we have enough guys that have been here a long time — win or lose, we're going to go back the next day and see what we can get better at. I'm confident that we'll find out.'

Jacobson said after the game Saturday he didn't want his players worried about offense because of the level of corrections they'd need to make defensively.

One way to ensure that happens is to hammer that point home in the film room and in practice. Jacobson did just that with his players.

'The only thing we watched from the game was defensive clips, so they didn't get an opportunity to watch or talk about offense,' Jacobson said. 'They're going to do what we emphasize over the course of time. They would have liked to have done it better on Saturday, I would've liked to have seen it done better on Saturday. But over the course of time, they're going to get better at and focus on the things that I focus on.

'They know. They know where it's at.'

As much of an emphasis as those corrections have been — and will continue to be, regardless of future game outcomes — how they relate to Stephen F. Austin is tenuous.

The Panthers (0-1) host the Lumberjacks (0-1) at 7 a.m. in McLeod Center as part of ESPN's 24 Hours of College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. It's a rematch from last year's matchup in Nacogdoches, Texas, in which UNI won, 79-77, in overtime.

The way SFA plays negates most of the lessons Jacobson wanted his players to focus on. It makes for a quick day of prep work before an early tip.

'What we learned from Saturday doesn't really apply, so it's a little bit of a Catch-22 because of the way Stephen F. Austin plays defensively. They deny everything,' Jacobson said. 'We're going to have to attack the basket and not work to fight their pressure, but see if we can get by them. … I would anticipate some of the things I'd like to get shifted around really don't apply to tomorrow's game. So we're going to have to attack this one kind of by itself.'

PANTHERS SIGN THIRD RECRUIT

UNI announced two commitments on Signing Day for college basketball's early signing period last Wednesday, then added a third on Monday — a little out of nowhere.

Jacobson sent out a tweet Monday morning announcing Flower Mound, Texas (Flower Mound H.S.) guard Isaiah Brown would fill the third — and final — open scholarship for the Panthers. Unlike Tanner Lohaus (Iowa City West) and Juwan McCloud (Germantown, Wis.), Brown's recruitment was truncated, though no less effective.

'It was a shorter recruiting window. (Assistant coach) P.J. (Hogan) did a great job of just having him on our radar,' Jacobson said. 'P.J. had been involved with him for a while, but really got started with him two, three weeks ago in terms of conversations. We feel like it's a great fit both ways.

'He's a little different, just because of the recruiting window. Most of the time we get involved with guys that are freshmen or sophomores, (we) track them and we get some early commitments that way.'

Jacobson sees the 6-foot-6 guard as someone who brings size to a position where he's had a lot of shooters (see: Matt Bohannon, Ali Farokhmanesh, et. al) but not that kind of height.

Brown, a high school senior this year, joins Lohaus and McCloud on campus next year.

'He's got size and length — he's pushing 6-foot-6. My plan is, and I know he is, a guy that can play the off-guard position,' Jacobson said. 'So some size and length there with a guy who can shoot it, that we haven't had all the time — more the size and length of Jeremy Morgan.

'We're really excited about him.'

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