Rotation change helps UNI men’s basketball record back-to-back wins

CEDAR FALLS — After a disappointing loss at Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 11, UNI men’s basketball coach Ben Jacobson began to search for answers.

Despite the regular season having just five games remaining, the Panthers had yet to consistently play at a high level — something their Missouri Valley Conference peers expected by picking them second in the preseason poll.

So, when it came to finding the right answers, the 18th-year coach knew not to overthink it or overcorrect. Instead, a message was sent the practice after that Feb. 11 Ioss to the Flames that starters would play less going forward and bench players would play more.

And by nature of that change, the expectation was a team that would play harder and faster the rest of the season.

That change — albeit in a small sample size — has proved productive as UNI has since recorded two double-digit wins. An 86-67 win at Valparaiso last Wednesday and 74-63 win at home against third-place Bradley on Sunday have the Panthers feeling good.

“We were able to cover things that we didn’t cover the first time that we played Bradley because we played so hard,” Jacobson said. “So, it wasn’t scheme. We tweaked a couple things and that helped us on maybe four (or) five plays in the first half, but big picture it was (that) we played really, really hard.”

In the two games since the adjustment, UNI has had just one player eclipse 30 minutes in either game. Junior guard Nate Heise said after Sunday’s win that the Panthers depth seemed to make a difference as players knew they’d be on the floor in shorter bursts.

“I didn’t get any further than, ‘how can we get three or four of these guys minutes’ down?’ So that they don’t in their mind — again if you’re playing 35 to 38 minutes — you have to figure out where you’re going to catch a little break,” Jacobson said. “When you’re playing 25 to 28 minutes you don’t have to think about that. And then, wanting to give some certainty to those guys on the bench that we’ve talked about all year.”

The next test for UNI (15-12, 9-7) and its new rotation is at Illinois State (13-14, 7-9). Despite the Redbirds’ struggles this season, they enter Wednesday night’s home game on an impressive two-game win streak that included an upset of then-No. 23 Indiana State.

“They’re doing a lot with their defense and playing really hard and playing well together,” Jacobson said. “They made four 3s at Indiana State and beat Indiana State a week or so ago when they had just gotten ranked 23rd in the country. They made 14 3s (Sunday), so they can do it either way.”

Tip-off at CEFCU Arena is at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).