UNI seniors lead team to surprise success

The Northern Iowa Panthers have this week off before resuming action with a non-conference game at Butler on Saturday. Under first-year coach Greg McDermott the Panthers are a surprise at 6-2 and followed an upset win over Iowa with a Missouri Valley Conference opening victory at Bradley. He says he was most pleased with his team’s ability to come down from the big win and be ready to play at Bradley. He says that’s a sign of a mature team with good leadership.McDermott says a key for the Panthers has been the willingness of the seniors to buy into his system.McDermott says when a program has struggled, the players need to believe they can be successful, and part of that comes from hard work. He says the team members began working hard last summer and he’s pleased with what they’ve done.