UNI relies on defense, Morgan and Mitchell to close out Loyola

CEDAR FALLS — On Thursday in Evansville, Ind., the No. 23 Northern Iowa men's basketball team found itself floundering in the final stages of their conference opener, and wasted a once-double-digit lead in the loss.

But on Sunday in the home conference opener, the Panthers (12-2, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference) did what they couldn't do against Evansville — they finished off Loyola, 67-58 thanks to a career high 18 points from Jeremy Morgan and a cathartic second half from Deon Mitchell.

'We did a much better job in this game, in the second half when we did get (the lead) to double figures, it stayed there. We got under five minutes and it was still 16 points,' said Coach Ben Jacobson. 'That hurt us a couple days ago. We had two different chances to get away from Evansville and we didn't. Tonight we got away and stayed there.'

They stayed there, but not without still having a few nervous moments in the final five minutes. Three different Panthers missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw attempt, and allowed the Ramblers (11-3, 1-1) to get as close as to within seven on three occasions thanks to 3-pointers.

But a handful of Morgan free throws and being able to rely on their defense once again kept one loss from becoming two in much the same way.

Jacobson said the Panthers have been able to rely on their defense in a way they weren't able to last season, and that's been the catalyst for closing teams out. That end of the floor produced a McLeod Center-record 14 steals and 19 total turnovers. The kryptonite to that defense, though, is the struggles with rebounding — UNI lost that battle to Loyola, 32-29.

'Our defense has been good enough for us to get away from teams,' Jacobson said. 'Games have stayed close, like the other day. We let one get away because we didn't rebound well enough. I think that's more where we're at.

'You need to be able to rely on your defense, without question, to make sure you have a chance. That's a big change for our team from a year ago. This year we can count on our defense to do what it needs to do.'

As much as Jacobson looks at things that need fixing — he's a coach, after all, and there's never a perfect team or performance — he also saw some things that were both a relief and made him excited.

Morgan's breakout game, where he was 5 of 8 from the field and 6 of 8 from the free throw line was important, and Jacobson said the way he's played defensively has been crucial and 'his effort has been at the highest level.'

As happy as that has made the coach, Mitchell's play was even more so. The senior has struggled shooting most of the season, and even in the first half Sunday — where he missed two layups, one wide open on a fast break. But his outburst at the start of the second half sparked himself as much as the team. He had UNI's first nine points of the half on three layups — a couple in traffic — and a 3-pointer.

Jacobson said those plays were 'really important' for his confidence, and that the fixes are 'much more on that side of it than anything right now.'

Mitchell seeing shots fall and the Panthers holding up in the late stages for their first conference win will both give Jacobson and the rest of his players plenty of that.

'It just gets frustrating when you don't see shots fall that you know you can make, that you've been in the gym practicing. But Coach told me to keep my head up and stay with it and things would fall for (me),' Mitchell said. 'It felt good shots were starting to fall. I've been struggling from the 3-point line, I've been struggling to finish, I've had a lot of turnovers this year. It just feels good for things to go my way and for us to come out with the win.'

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