Hard practices paid off for UNI men’s basketball in 64-62 win at Missouri State

CEDAR FALLS — Holiday break was anything but a break for the Northern Iowa men’s basketball team.

Despite having won three straight games before heading home for the holidays, UNI Coach Ben Jacobson knew it was the right time to continue applying pressure on his team to improve.

With this season’s schedule providing a longer than usual time between games, the Panthers (7-7, 1-2) were pushed hard at a time of the season when most teams are hopeful they won’t have to dread the holiday meals they indulged in.

That sweat equity turned into a 64-62 win at Missouri State on Wednesday night, UNI’s first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season.

“We had a really hard stretch in practice where we really tried to improve this past week and it was really tough on everybody,” UNI guard Bowen Born said. “I think that was one of the biggest factors in us getting a road win, just because of the toughness that it kind of built for us.

“We were running for every mistake that we made. Coach (Jacobson) I think did a really good job of preparing us toughness-wise, because I feel like that’s really the area where we can continue to improve the most.”

The extra conditioning from the practices Born details seemed to pay off immediately at Missouri State as the Panthers jumped out to a 16-4 lead. Jacobson added that among his team’s notable wins — against Stanford, Richmond and the Bears on Wednesday night — that this latest game was the most impressive of the season.

The Panthers were most focused on improving their defense and rebounding, something that also showed up in Wednesday night’s win.

“Defensively in terms of resistance, our positioning, our being in the gaps (and) just making it hard for Missouri State to get downhill on possessions, was as good as we’ve done (this season),” Jacobson said.

UNI’s four-game winning streak will be put to the test Sunday as the Panthers host Indiana State (12-2, 3-0) at McLeod Center (2 p.m., ESPN+). The Sycamores are currently tied with Drake for first place in the MVC and lead the conference in scoring offense, margin of victory, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage.

Along with the offensive prowess Indiana State flexes under third-year coach Josh Schertz, Jacobson said the Sycamores are improved defensively.

“This team is the most skilled in terms of the ball-handling, passing (and) shooting. This is the most skilled team that (Coach Schertz) has had,” Jacobson said. “And then defensively they’re really good. This is his best defensive team as well.”

Indiana State’s two losses this season have been on the road at Alabama and Michigan State. All five of its starters are averaging double figures, led by guard Isaiah Swope’s 19.5 points per game.

“As challenging as it is, it comes back to, fundamentally, the same things that we’ve been talking about, working on and gotten a little better at here the last five, six days — keeping the ball in front of you so you don’t start into rotations,” Jacobson said. “The more skilled team you’re playing against, the harder that becomes.”