UNI puts emphasis on low post defense in road win

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - When Indiana State traveled to Cedar Falls to face Northern Iowa earlier this season, the Sycamores used 6-foot-10 Jake Kitchell and 6-foot-9 Justin Gant to do damage in the paint that the Panthers hadn't really seen before or since.

When No. 14/15 Northern Iowa traveled to Terre Haute, Ind., for the rematch Tuesday night, Coach Ben Jacobson brought his Panthers (21-2, 10-1 Missouri Valley Conference) armed with a little different strategy to defend the Sycamores (11-12, 7-4) in the paint.

Like so many other times this season, the new plan worked by way of a 61-51 victory and just 10 combined points between Kitchell and Gant - a pair who average just shy of 20 combined per game.

'We needed to do a better job in this game of guarding the low block than what we did in the last game. That really hurt us, especially in the second half of that game,” Jacobson said. 'We made a decision and a real effort to get the ball off the low block, and I thought our guys' communication was good. And I thought the way we scrambled to cover up was pretty good after they had thrown it out.”

Senior forward Seth Tuttle - who was named U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Oscar Robertson Player of the Week on Tuesday - was charged with half of that defensive effort, with a combination of Marvin Singleton and Nate Buss handling the other.

Tuttle said after the game the biggest challenge in switching from the single coverage plan they went with in Cedar Falls to a combination of single and double-teams with traps is how knowledgeable both Kitchell and Gant are on the floor. Such a concentrated effort to guard the block like that resulted in jump shots for the two big men more often than not.

As a result, Kitchell shot 3 of 5 from the field and 1 of 3 from 3-point range for seven points. Gant went 1 of 7 from the field and 1 of 2 from deep for three points.

'For the most part, if they did touch the ball in the block, we tried to change it up - play one-on-one or double. They're a hard two guys to double,” Tuttle said. 'They're tall enough they can throw over the double team, and they're smart enough they can make the right read. And when we came, they had to get rid of it. So their only shots they had were jump shots.”

Indiana State Coach Greg Lansing saw the effect UNI's adjustments were having, and tried to counter with sending his guards in the paint.

But he was disappointed with the aggressiveness his bigs showed because as sound as the Panthers are defensively, if a team doesn't attack, UNI can dig in and make it a long night.

'We did try to work on it - and I think you saw at the end there - with Khristian (Smith) slipping into the middle. That's what we were trying to do a little more,” Lansing said. 'We weren't moving it quick enough like we needed to, and when they did go one-on-one we were settling for a jump shot or a little jump hook instead of getting to the rim.

'We were not in attack mode at all. Their defense is set up to do that, but when you get it in the post and paint touches, you've got to bounce it once and go to the rim.”

Tuttle finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Jeremy Morgan added 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while Wes Washpun had 10 points and three assists.

Any concern over a possible letdown after the 70-54 victory against Wichita State on Saturday was dashed in the first 14 or so minutes of Tuesday's game. Play was stopped only twice in the first 13:45 - once on a turnover with 17:16 left, where Jacobson subbed his first three players, and again with 10:36 to play when Lansing called a timeout.

The first dead ball and subsequent media timeout came with 6:15 left in the first half, meaning players had a stretch of 6:40 and 4:11 with no stoppages. In that time, UNI built its lead to eight points and never really looked back - with Lansing saying afterward that it was 'never really a game.”

The switch defensively helped in spades, but Tuttle and the rest of the Panthers chalked up being ready for this game - and the unexpected start - to their mental readiness as much as anything else.

'I can tell you, that's not very much fun (playing that long without a stoppage). I was dogging it,” Tuttle said. 'You're looking across at your opponents and it's just a mental game at that point. Who's going to fight through it, who's going to be mentally tougher. And tonight I think we were.

'I'm pretty proud of our team for that.”

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