Tag Archives: UNI

UNI at Arch Madness Preview

Posted on March 2, 2018 | By: John C. Thomas | Leave a comment

Friday, March 2, 2018 12:00 p.m.
Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Mo.

Loyola faces Northern Iowa just 16 hours after UNI’s 60-50 win over Evansville in the opening game of Arch Madness 2018. UNI got the win by holding the MVC’s leading scorer Ryan Taylor to a season-low two points on 1 of 13 shooting. Wyatt Lohaus led UNI with 15 points, and Hunter Rhodes added 14 more points.

The Ramblers have spent the past week going to class, practicing, collecting hardware (Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year) and doing media interviews (USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Loyola Phoenix, local TV, etc.). This is different from the usual Ramblers routine of game prep in relative obscurity. But it’s important work introducing the MVC to the Chicago media.

Many other Arch Madness #1 seeds have had struggles after a long, distracting layoff. None of them lost in the #1 vs. 8/9 game (Friday), but 10 #1 seeds have lost in the semifinals (Saturday), and nine #1s have lost in the finals (Sunday). That leaves only eight #1 seeds winning the conference tournament championship in the 27 years of Arch Madness. In a year of parity for the Missouri Valley (seeds 2 through 10 bunched within a range of 90 RPI rankings), just about anything can happen if someone gets lucky.

Loyola swept UNI during the regular season, with a 56-50 win on Jan 7, 2018 in Cedar Falls and a 70-47 win on Jan. 28, 2018 in Chicago. Clayton Custer led the Ramblers in scoring in both games, notching 11 points on the road and 21 points at home. Donte Ingram led Loyola in rebounding both times.

UNI won three of their last four games to work their way up to the 9 seed in the MVC Tournament. Perhaps the biggest change since Loyola and UNI last met is the emergence of 6’1″ sophomore guard Hunter Rhodes as a much more prominent part of the team. Beginning with the game after UNI’s last loss to Loyola, Rhodes has averaged 7.9 points per game over the last nine contests after scoring only 16 points in his first 13 games. Rhodes joined the starting lineup for the past five games.

The Ramblers are 6-5 against the Panthers since joining the MVC, 3-4 at Arch Madness, and 0-1 against UNI at Arch Madness. UNI lost their only game in last year’s Arch Madness as the 3 seed, but UNI had won six Arch Madness games in a row before last year. Since Ben Jacobsen was promoted to head coach in 2006, UNI has won at Arch Madness four times and have an overall record of 14-7.

Arch Madness Tournament Notebook: http://mvc-sports.com/news/2018/2/26/ar … ebook.aspx

Loyola game notes: http://www.loyolaramblers.com/documents … df?id=6893

Opposition game notes: https://unipanthers.com/documents/2018/ … df?id=3812

TV/Streaming video: NBC Sports Chicago / http://stream.nbcsports.com/rsn/nbcs-chicago

Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=209930

Vegas odds: Loyola by 5.5

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UNI Preview — 1-28-2018

Posted on January 27, 2018 | By: John C. Thomas | Leave a comment

Sunday, January 28, 2018 3:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.

How things have changed since UNI and Loyola last met on Jan. 7. Three weeks ago, the Ramblers were reeling from a 1-2 start in conference play, and the Panthers were working on a five-game losing streak that included their first three conference games. The Ramblers haven’t lost since their 56-50 win that day, and the Panthers dropped to 0-5 in conference before recovering to win three of their last four. On Sunday, the second half of the conference season begins with the resurgent Panthers looking to stop the conference leaders in Chicago.

UNI Panthers

You had the feeling Coach Ben Jacobsen could find an answer to a seven-game losing streak, especially since many of the games in UNI’s 0-5 conference start were by close margins. UNI lost to Missouri State on the road by only seven points, they lost to Loyola at home by six, they lost to SIU by three points, and they lost at Indiana State by two.

As it turns out, the answer was to bench their best player– 6’10” preseason First Team senior big man Bennett Koch, and replace him with a freshman. In UNI’s game at Valpo, with both the Panthers and the Crusaders suffering an 0-5 conference start, Jacobsen inserted 6’9” freshman forward/center Austin Phyfe into the starting lineup. Phyfe responded with a 20-point game and UNI had their first conference win of the season.

The new UNI starting five consists of Phyfe and Klint Carlson in the frontcourt; guards Isaiah Brown, Tywhon Pickford, and Juwan McCloud are in the backcourt. Since being added to the starting lineup, Phyfe is averaging 8.0 points and 4.3 rebound playing about 16 minutes per game, but for some reason, having Bennett Koch coming off the bench provides a very different mindset for the team. Koch is still playing the majority of the time at the center/forward position, but without him as a commanding focal point of the offense and interior defense, rebounding has improved substantially, and the offense is more widely shared. Coming off the bench, Koch is not trying to do everything by himself. Klint Carlson, the 6’6” senior forward, provides some leadership next to Phyfe and averages 9.2 points and 5.6 rebounds.

Six-four freshman guard Tywhon Pickford has kept up his impressive play for UNI since the last meeting between these teams. He’s now averaging 10.6 points per game, and he’s still second in the league in rebounding at 8.6 per game. Isaiah Brown, a 6’7” sophomore guard, averages 7.4 points and is tied with Pickford for second on the team in made threes (28). Sophomore Juwan McCloud is 5’10” and averages 7.2 points per game as the Panthers’ quick playmaker; he leads UNI in assists and steals, but his low-percentage shooting is a major negative. Along with Koch, who has averaged 10.5 ppg since leaving the starting lineup, outside shooting specialists Spencer Haldeman and Wyatt Lohaus get significant time from the bench. Lohaus averages 9.4 points per game and Haldeman averages 6.8.

UNI has only played five true road games this season, but they’re 0-5 in those contests (at North Carolina, Bradley, Missouri State, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois). The game at Bradley was a blowout, but they lost by only two points at Indiana State and by only seven points at Missouri State. They’re 2-2 in neutral site games, but their two wins are against SMU and NC State, and their two losses are from Villanova and Iowa State. Loyola has won 3 of 4 games against UNI at Gentile Arena since joining the MVC, and overall, the Ramblers are 4-3 against UNI in Chicago.

This Sunday will be the first time since 1986-87 that Loyola has been in sole possession of first place in their conference with more than half the games played. Specifically, the last day was Saturday, February 21, 1987, when Evansville (led by top scorer Marty Simmons, now Evansville’s head coach) beat the Ramblers 86-83 in Chicago. Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” was the #1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100 that day. Phil Niekro (born 1939) was still playing in the majors, and Charlie Joiner (born in 1947) was still playing in the NFL. There have been five Presidential administrations since then, including three Presidents elected to two four-year terms. Gas was $1.07 a gallon. Harold Washington was Mayor of Chicago. “Moonlighting” was one of the top 10 TV shows, and the Fox television network did not yet exist. So it has been a while.

Loyola game notes: http://www.loyolaramblers.com/documents … df?id=5820

UNI game notes: http://unipanthers.com/documents/2018/1 … df?id=3721

TV/Streaming video: ESPNU / http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3245498/ … vs–loyola (must have ESPNU as part of your cable package, but you can watch the event on replay later)

Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=189601

Vegas odds: Loyola by 7.5

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Northern Iowa Preview — 1-07-2018

Posted on January 6, 2018 | By: John C. Thomas | Leave a comment

Sunday, January 7, 2018 3:00 p.m.
McLeod Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Two struggling teams meet Sunday afternoon to try to regain their poise after an awkward start to conference play. The Ramblers have lost three out of their last four games after turning heads with a 10-1 start. The UNI Panthers were picked to finish 2nd in the MVC, but have lost five games in a row, including their first three conference games.

UNI had the league’s most challenging non-con schedule, including opening up against the defending national champions. After a season opening loss at #9 North Carolina, the Panthers picked up impressive wins against SMU, NC State, and UNLV. But since a close win at home over UT Arlington on December 7, the Panthers haven’t had a D1 win.

Coach Ben Jacobsen has had the same starting five in every game this season. Senior forwards Bennett Koch and Klint Carlson handle the frontcourt; guards Isaiah Brown, Tywhon Pickford, and Juwan McCloud are in the backcourt. At 6’10”, Koch leads the team in scoring (13.1 points per game), blocks, free throws made, and field goal percentage (.579). He averages 6.7 rebounds per game. Six-seven Klint Carlson averages 9.5 points and 6.1 rebounds.

Six-four freshman guard Tywhon Pickford has been phenomenal for UNI in the early going. He averages 9.3 points per game, which is very good for a freshman, but his rebounding is amazing—he’s second in the league in rebounding at 8.9 per game. Isaiah Brown is a 6’7” sophomore who takes a lot of shots from the perimeter; he averages 6.5 points and is second on the team in made threes (20). Sophomore Juwan McCloud is 5’10” and averages 8.6 points per game while leading in assists and steals.

Coming off the bench are 6’1” sophomore Spencer Haldeman and 6’2” junior Wyatt Lohaus, two outside shot specialists who receive the lion’s share of the minutes from the bench. Lohaus averages 8.6 points per game and Haldeman averages 7.9. Six-foot-nine senior center Ted Freidman (0.9 points per game) and 6’9” freshman forward Austin Phyfe (1.6 ppg) also see time in just about every game.

The Panthers still play their deliberate style, grinding out possessions with tough defense. UNI’s 61.1 average points allowed per game leads the MVC and ranks ninth in all of Division 1. The problem for the Panthers has been scoring, specifically field goal percentage. UNI’s 42.1% field goal percentage is last in the MVC, and they rank 7th in three-point percentage. Aside from Koch, none of UNI’s remaining starters shoot better than 40.4%. And Koch has had problems staying on the court because of foul trouble. In games this year where Koch gets four fouls or more, the Panthers are 0-4; in UNI’s D1 wins, Koch averages 28.8 minutes, and in their losses he averages only 23.7.

The Ramblers have lost their last two road games, and the Panthers have lost their last two home games. After starting the season averaging 77.9 points per game in their first 11 contests, Loyola has averaged only 59.5 points on offense in their last four. UNI is averaging only 53.7 points on offense since conference play started.

Loyola game notes:
http://www.loyolaramblers.com/documents/2018/1/5//UNI_Away_Notes_1_7_18.pdf?id=4783

UNI game notes: http://www.unipanthers.com/documents/2018/1/5//16_Loyola_at_UNI.pdf?id=3664

TV/Streaming video: ESPNU http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3215420/loyola-vs-northern-iowa-m-basketball

Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=191321

Vegas odds: Pending

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