UNI Panthers — Page 2

Panthers beat Texas with half court bomb

March 18, 2016 By Dar Danielson

UNI coach Ben Jacobson, Paul Jesperson, Wes Washpun, Jeremy Morgan.

Paul Jesperson’s half court bank shot sent the 11th seeded Northern Iowa Panthers into the second round of the NCAA Tournament with 75-72 win over 6th seeded Texas in Oklahoma City Friday night.

The Longhorns tied the game at 72-72 with 2.7 seconds remaining. UNI brought the ball in without taking a time out and Jesperson took one dribble and tossed up the game winner.

Coach Ben Jacobson said in the postgame news conference he came close to calling a time out, but decided not to. He says they didn’t run a special play and normally in that situation are looking for Wes Washpun to get the ball.

It is UNI’s 7th straight win and moves them to 23-12 overall. They will play third seed Texas A&M Sunday afternoon.

Wes Washpun led the Panthers with 17 points. Jeremy Morgan had 16 and Jesperson finished with 14.

The Panther’s win makes it a trifecta for Iowa schools following a buzzer beater earlier in the day by the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa State advanced on Thursday and plays for berth in the Sweet 16 Saturday.

UNI hopes to continue late season surge in NCAA tourney

March 18, 2016 By Radio Iowa Contributor

UNI players wait for their name during the NCAA selection show.

Northern Iowa plays in the late game in Oklahoma City tonight at 8:50 against Texas in the NCAA Tournament.

Panther coach Ben Jacobson expects Longhorns coach Shaka Smart to use a lot of pressure defense.

“I watched their game at Iowa State…in that game they pressed quite a bit. They don’t press nearly as much as they did when he was at VCU,” Jacobson says. “Now in saying that, in the Iowa State game they full court pressed, did some trapping, we’ve seen that as well, so that is going to be part of their game.” He says the pressure will come in both the full court and half court.

Jacobson says Smart likes an up-tempo game. “They are going to get the ball — made shot or missed shot — they are going to push it at you, so your transition defense has to be good. They go hard and to the boards and rebound. That system, his personality, you see it. Everything they do is coming at you,” Jacobson says.

The Panthers like to control the tempo of games and Jacobson says they haven’t tried add anything new as they’ve prepared. “I don’t know that either team is going to change much. We are both going to work hard to get our team to do what we do,”according to Jacobson. That philosophy is based on past tourney experience.

“I guess what I’ve learned is, now is not the time to be messing around. The key is that your guys play with a lot of confidence and that they play loose,” Jacobson explains. “And the only way to do that is to do the things that you’ve been doing awhile. And that’s really become our approach.”

The 11th seeded Panthers come into the game with a 22-12 record, while the sixth seeded Longhorns are 20-12.

(Reporting by Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein)

Hawkeyes, Panthers, Cyclones hit the mats in New York

March 17, 2016 By Pat Curtis

Tom Brands

Iowa, Iowa State, and UNI have a combined 20 wrestlers who’ll take the mat today inside New York’s Madison Square Garden — site of the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Audio: Pat Curtis report :40

Penn State is favored to win their fifth team title in six years. The Hawkeyes, with wrestlers at 9 of the 10 weights, plan to challenge the Nittany Lions.

Iowa’s Sammy Brooks is the number-two seed at 184, but Brooks says everyone he’ll face over the next three days will be tough. “I’ve been working all year and seeding has never really been important to me,” Brooks said. “You’re going to wrestle who you’re going to wrestle and it’s going to be tough.”

Like Brooks, Cory Clark at 133 and Brandon Sorenson at 149 are the number-two seeds at their respective weights. Coach Tom Brands says all 9 Hawkeye wrestlers are capable of bringing home first place medals.

“We talk about things that we can control and that is…when you step out onto the mat, make sure you’re ready to go,” Brands said. “There’s a path and really that path is one match at a time. It’s that simple.”

Iowa State has six competitors in the tournament, led by eighth seeded Earl Hall at 133. Northern Iowa’s highest-seeded wrestler in Dylan Peters, the 9-seed at 125.

UNI returns to Oklahoma City for NCAA meeting with Texas

March 13, 2016 By Radio Iowa Contributor

Coach Ben Jacobson talks strategy during the Big 4 Classic this year.

Coach Ben Jacobson talks strategy during a time out at the Big 4 Classic this year.

The Northern Iowa Panthers are returning to the site of one of their biggest victories in school history, as they earned an 11 seed and a matchup in the NCAA Basketball Tournament against sixth seed Texas Friday at 8:50 p.m. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The Panthers upset then top-ranked Kansas in the tournament in Oklahoma City their last time there as they advanced to the Sweet 16.

Coach Ben Jacobson says it’s nice to go back. “You know for some of us, it’s familiar,” Jacobson says, “And I think that’s good. They guys who are playing, they guys who really matter, they have not been there before. For some of us it’s nice to be able to go back there, but we’ve got a different team. Those guys haven’t been there,” Jacobson says.

Jacobson says he’s only watched a few of the Longhorn’s games, but knows their coach Shaka Smart well from games against his former VCU team. He says he doesn’t know enough about Smart’s Texas team to know if it is like his teams at VCU. Jacobson does like the Friday game over Thursday.

“One of the things talking about about it all week and getting asked different questions… if I had my choice, I’d rather play on Friday,” Jacobson says. “You do have the extra day of prep, you have a little more time to make travel plans. It takes a little bit of the anxiety out of it because you’ve got that extra 24 hours to do the stuff on the front end.”

He is happy with the 11 seed and says he thought they would be a 12 seed and would have been surprised to be a 13 seed, and is”mildly surprised” they are a 12. UNI had big wins over North Carolina and Iowa State in the non-conference, but started conference play at 2-6 and were 10-11 overall before going on a late season run and winning the MVC Tournament. Jacobson says the team has never stopped playing hard and pushing for a change to get back to the NCAA’s.

“Now we didn’t play very good for two-and-a-half weeks, but even in this last six weeks, we have played like a team that’s got something to prove. So, I think that will absolutely be a part of what we do this week,” according to Jacobson.

UNI is now 22-12. Texas was 20-12 and 11-7 in the Big 12 where they finished fourth.

(Reporting by Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein)

UNI upsets ISU in wild Big 4 Classic game

December 20, 2015 By Dar Danielson

UNI held on to defeat ISU 81-79.

It’s labeled the Big Four Classic, and the game between Northern Iowa and Iowa State lived up to the classic status as the Panthers held off a furious late rally to upset the second-ranked Cyclones 81-79.

Iowa State had the ball with 15 seconds left under their own basket trailing by one. They ran a play to Georges Niang, but Niang slipped and fell and turned the ball over. Wes Washpun was fouled and made one free throw to up the lead to two, and Monte Morris then missed a shot at the buzzer to end the game.

Ben Jacobson

“It was just a great game to be a part of, obviously really proud of our guys and our team. We had to hold off one of the three or four top teams in the country,” Panther coach Ben Jacobson says.

It’s the second win of the season for the Panthers over a top five team after earlier upsetting then top-ranked North Carolina. Jacobson says the team does seem to rise up to the challenge of playing top teams, but says they haven’t peaked yet.

“I’m gonna turn into coach here, I’d like to see us get more consistent with what we are doing, defensively and rebounding and keep bringing our team along. And I think we’ve got a lot ahead of us still we can get a lot better,” Jacobson says. “…sometimes as a team you don’t necessarily have the ability to rise up and do what we did tonight, but the guys on this team do, and that says a lot about them.”

Washpun finished with 28 points as was asked to compare the upset win over North Carolina, to the win over the Cyclones. “Every team is different and there are a lot of good teams in the country — and this team is one of them and Carolina is one of them as well — you’ve just got to believe in your preparation and believe that you can make games like that happen, and make wins like this happen, and I think that’s the biggest difference,” Washpun says.

Wasphun says beating the Cyclones has its own meaning. He says it was a “little extra special” after having a lead in their last game against I-S-U and losing. Washpun says they got together and decided they weren’t going to let it happen again. Panther Paul Jesperson says there’s a reason why they play so well against the top teams.

“I think everybody on our team is fearless, I think that is a big part of it,” Jesperson says. “Nobody is going to back down from anybody we are going to play, whether they are number one or we’re going and playing in a very tough environment. Nobody is afraid of any team we are going to play. I think that goes a long ways when you are on the road and playing a very talented team like Iowa State.” Jesperson hit 7 three-pointers as U-N-I hit 13 of 22 three-point shots overall and made 58 percent of all their shots from the floor.

Steve Prohm

ISU coach Steve Prohm says they need to improve some things, including their defense. “We’ve all got to get better, that’s just part of the process. We are ten games in and we’re 9-1, got beat by a good basketball team,” Prohm says “Defensively in the first half our ball screen coverage wasn’t good, we did a better job in the second half and held them to 35 points and put ourselves in a position to win.”

Niang agreed with his coach about the need to improve defensively. “Obviously it wasn’t acceptable…that’s something we are working on and looking to adjust. Obviously we can’t let a team shoot 58 percent from the field and expect to win,” Niang says. Niang led all scorers with 30 points, and Prohm says his slip and turnover late was just something that happened.

Georges Niang

Prohm says Niang is a great player who wanted the ball and says he would have done the same thing again late in the game in getting him the ball in the middle of the floor for a drive. He says Ninag’s slip and fall was “just an unfortunate situation.”

Niang and the other Cyclones were down after the loss and Prohm was asked how he gets them to overcome that for the next game. “I’m down too, but come tomorrow we’ve got to get ready for Cincinnati. We’ve got to get Iowa State better because it’s always about the next game. We’ll go there and it’s going to be a very hostile environment, and that’s good for us because we haven’t played a true road game yet,” according to Prohm.

The Cyclones play Cincinnati on Tuesday. The Panthers move to 7-3 on the season and will play at Hawaii in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu on Wednesday.

Cyclones fall behind early, recover to down UNI 31-7

September 6, 2015 By Dar Danielson

Paul Rhoads

Northern Iowa scored first, but Iowa State regained control of the game and scored 31 unanswered points to down the Panthers 31-7 Saturday in Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

The Cyclones had to overcome two missed field goals and a turnover early before gaining control of the game. Coach Paul Rhoads says getting the opening game win is important.

“To be on the winning side of the ledger is what we’re concerned about tonight, and we are appreciative to be on that side,” Rhoads says. The Cyclones had lost three straight openers, but Rhoads says he wasn’t nervous about this game against a good Panther team.

“I really wasn’t. I just think that we had made that much progress and it was that big of an emphasis and the kids were that committed to it,” Rhoads says. “…I meet with the staff a half hour before the pre-game meal and I said when it hits I don’t want anything different out of you either, we’ve prepared for adversity, so you stick to the plan and the kids will stick to the plan — and everybody did.”

Mark Farley

The Panthers looked like they could stretch their lead after scoring but Coach Mark Farley says he wasn’t feeling confident.

“You know I never felt like we were playing that well all night long, even though we were in the game and we were ahead, it still felt like we weren’t playing that well,” Farley says. “And it just kind of continued when we did get some momentum –we caught a break they gave us the fumble — and then we had an opportunity there to stretch the lead and create some momentum and we didn’t do it, we gave it back to them. That was disappointing part of the whole thing, we had our opportunities, there was enough there to create momentum, and we didn’t take advantage of the situation.”

Farley says he can tell from the sideline when the team is playing well, and he never really got that feeling in this game. “Even though I felt our defense was doing some good things — and there were some good things done by our offense — but there was no consistency in the play. And that’s why you didn’t feel like you could ever get control, because you didn’t have that consistent play.”

Farley played three quarterbacks and says he was looking for someone to show they were taking control. Farley says if they can take the game and use it to make them better in the next game, then it was worth it. He’s says he’ll review everyone’s play. “This gave a lot of guys opportunities, so we can put a starting lineup on the field next week that we’ll know a lot better than the beginning of this football game,” according to Farley.

Sawyer Kollmorgen

Sawyer Kollmorgen was one of the Panther quarterbacks to play. “We missed some stuff I think, we’ll go back watch film and see the plays that we missed. You know, credit Iowa State, they are a good team, good defense, but at the same I think when you break it down and see it on film that we beat ourselves. We left some plays out there that we could have made, missed some reads and keys — stuff like that,” Kollmorgen says.

He says they have a lot of work to do. “Coach Farley said this will be one of best games for us if we handle it the right way and we go back and we watch this and learn from it. So, that’s what we need to go as a quarterback group, as an offense and as a team,” Kollmorgen says.

Allan Lazard

Cyclone sophomore wide receiver Allan Lazard caught four passes for 43 yards and a touchdown. He also had 100 yards in kick returns. Lazard was happy with the way the team overcame adversity.

“Our focus the past nine months was that first win….we struggled at first, we stuck with each other, we kept encouraging each other,” Lazard says.

He credits the defense for changing the game. “Only holding them to one touchdown…from last year that’s unbelievable. I am so proud of those guys and we couldn’t have done it without them,” Lazard says. He says the mood is a lot different this year after getting the win.

“You can just tell, just walking back into the locker room — just so much more swagger, you know everyone’s heads up,” Lazard says. “We’re not down or anything, we’re very excited and ready to play Iowa next,” according to Lazard.

Lazard referenced the Cyclone’s next game which is the big in-state matchup with the Hawkeyes in Ames. Iowa won its season opener Saturday, so both teams will come into the game at 1-0.

The Panthers will play Eastern Washington at home in Cedar Falls.

Experience will benefit ISU’s Lazard

August 14, 2015 By Todd Kimm

Allen Lazzard

The experience Allen Lazard gained as a true freshman should help him make even bigger strides this season. The Urbandale native stepped onto the Iowa State campus as a heralded recruit and earned immediate playing time.

Lazard finished second on the team in receptions with 45, including three for touchdowns.

“Being able to become a starter and getting experience playing will benefit me a lot this year”, said Lazard. I know what it is like to play division one and play in the Big-12.”

Lazard says he worked in the off season on adding speed and strength and has added at least 40 pounds to all of his main lifts.

The Cyclones open the season September 5th against UNI.

Missouri Valley Conference renews TV contract with ESPN

July 23, 2015 By Todd Kimm

The Missouri Valley Conference has signed a ten-year extension to its media rights deal with ESPN that will include increased exposure on the network’s on-line platform ESPN3. MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin says the new deal will lead to more than 800 Valley events being produced on an annual basis. Elgin says they’ve had 7 or 8 different contracts with ESPN through the years and this one allows many more sports to get some exposure — especially the Olympic sports.

Elgin says the new deal will have no impact on local and regional television deals for Missouri Valley basketball as he says outside the 5-state footprint, ESPN3 will still carry the games.

Drake University Associate Dean David Wright says the new deal also opens up educational opportunities because the on-line content will rely heavily on student run productions.

UNI coach has several options to fill in front court

June 23, 2015 By Todd Kimm

UNI’s mascot.

UNI basketball coach Ben Jacobson says some new faces on the front court will need to step up if the Panthers want to remain contenders in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers must replace 27 points and 15 rebounds along the frontline from the graduated trio of Seth Tuttle, Nate Buss and Marvin Singleton.

Six-seven Klint Carlson, 6-9 Ted Friedman and 6-11 Bennett Koch are all entering their third year with the program. And then they have some younger players with size who have joined the team too.

Jacobson is expecting big things out of Carlson, Friedman and Koch. “All three of those guys have worked very hard, and they’ve been patient, they’ve waited their turn. They bring a lot of different things to the table between the three of them. I’m looking forward to that part,” Jacobson says.

UNI and Iowa players ready to tip off summer basketball league

June 18, 2015 By Todd Kimm

UNI’s mascot.

The Prime Time League in Iowa City opens it’s 29th season on tonight at the North Liberty Community Center. The league features players from Iowa and UNI and league director Randy Larson says it will give fans a preview of next season.

He says it’s a big year with 5 returning starters for Iowa and he says UNI has some wholes to fill, but he looks for them to “reload not rebuild” with the talent they have coming back.

Larson says with both programs coming off successful seasons league games will draw big crowds. He says the biggest draw is to see the incoming players for themselves. They will have 5 of 6 incoming players for the Hawkeyes.

Larson says the league does a good job of providing the players with more structure than they would get in pickup games.

Games will be on Thursday nights and ever other Sunday through July 30th. The games will rotate between North Liberty and Waterloo.

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