UNI domination building on itself

CEDAR FALLS - In the week or so surrounding No. 12/13 Northern Iowa's last meeting with Illinois State, the Panthers (23-2, 12-1 Missouri Valley Conference) had hit a bit of a lull.

A six-point home win against Indiana State preceded the Nate Buss-fueled one-point win in Normal, Ill., then a slogging 59-52 win at Southern Illinois followed. But since then, UNI has steamrolled everyone in its path, all the way through Wednesday night's 83-64 domination of the Redbirds (15-10, 7-6) in the rematch.

The Panthers have won by an average of 15 points, and the games haven't really felt that close. Every coach hopes their team is playing its best basketball come March, and with the way Coach Ben Jacobson coaches his team and the work ethic he believes they have, it's possible this four-game stretch isn't even the best it can get.

'I don't know (where the ceiling is),” Jacobson said. 'I keep talking to the guys about continuing to build and continuing to find some ways to get better, stay in a great routine during the day, get in and do their work with film, get in and get shots; seeing if we can get a little better defensively, seeing if we can rebound better. So I don't know. I'm just asking the guys to continue to build, to really keep building.”

It may sound repetitive from Jacobson, but his team has responded to that message in spades this season.

The confidence the Panthers have taken from focusing on improving upon their performance each time out, then seeing that work pay off has meant as much as any Seth Tuttle dunk, Jeremy Morgan steal or Matt Bohannon 3-pointer. They gave themselves a boost in such a dominating performance against an Illinois State team that lost by an average of 3.6 points in its five conference losses before Wednesday night.

The win was a clear sign they're playing at a higher level than at any other point this season, and plenty of reason to stick with what's worked so far mentality-wise.

'Tonight I'd say so (that we played much better),” Tuttle said. 'That's a really good basketball team, and for us to come in here and do what we did tonight, it's felt pretty good. And you can feel, as a team, the momentum just keeps building. That's one thing we talk about all the time: just keep building off the game before.”

Tuttle was once again the motor for UNI, finishing with 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting, adding five assists and five rebounds.

Redbirds Coach Dan Muller sent a trio of looks at Tuttle defensively - single coverage, double and zone - and none of it mattered. Muller said after the game, 'we couldn't guard Tuttle one-on-one, couldn't guard him when we sent somebody,” and that the Panthers 'were just too good for us tonight.”

When Tuttle wasn't the one to score, someone else was on the outside. Every UNI player who played double-digit minutes scored, and the Panthers couldn't seem to miss in a 50-point first half - by far the best scoring half of the season. Deon Mitchell went 4 of 4 from deep for 12 points, Jesperson had a pair of 3s for eight points and Wyatt Lohaus was 2 of 2 from deep for eight points of his own.

The game served as an example that the Panthers can be effective when pushing the pace beyond their 349th-ranked adjusted tempo (KenPom). Jacobson has said, and backed up Wednesday night, he likes his team's chances when they do that.

It was an effective night (UNI had 1.407 points per possession), and possibly a sign that the Panthers have not yet, in fact, reached the peak of their potential.

'I guess we will find out,” Tuttle said. 'I don't really know. I feel really good about our team. I watch a lot of basketball and I feel like we've got everything that's necessary to make a run. And I'm not talking about the NCAA Tournament yet. I haven't won a game in the Valley tournament, so I want to make a run in the Valley tournament first.

'I feel like our team's got everything that's necessary, and I'm excited about it.”

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