Wednesday, January 18, 2017 7:00 p.m.
McLeod Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Just two weeks ago, Loyola defeated UNI handily at Gentile Arena, 77-66. It was a game Loyola needed badly after starting conference play with a loss at Drake and a blowout loss at home to Illinois State. The Loyola ship was righted with the win, and the Ramblers followed with a solid win at Bradley, a gutsy performance in a loss at Wichita State, and a come from behind win against Missouri State. UNI got their first win of the season Sunday, when they demolished Drake in Cedar Falls.
With the loss at Loyola, the Panthers have adjusted their starting lineup and shuffled minutes to some players. Juwan McCloud, who came off the bench to lead UNI in scoring against Loyola, has joined the starters. Freshman Spencer Haldeman is now coming in first from the bench, but still getting starter’s minutes. Junior Ted Friedman and freshman Isiah Brown are seeing fewer minutes, redshirt freshman forward Luke McDonnell is seeing a few more minutes. MVC Preseason Player of the Year Jeremy Morgan was held to only seven points against the Ramblers two weeks ago, but after a respectable out against WSU and sitting out a game against Bradley, he bounced back to score 21 in their win Sunday against Drake.
Sunday’s 79-60 win over Drake halted a seven-game UNI losing streak, their longest losing streak in 17 seasons. And Coach Jacobson seemed somewhat intent upon securing that first league win, as he played only seven players more than three minutes in the game. Klint Carlson, Jeremy Morgan, and Jordan Ashton combined to split eight minutes of rest in that game, despite UNI leading by 20 points at halftime and 23 points with 5 ½ minutes left. Coach Jacobson and Drake midseason head coaching replacement Jeff Rutter both served as assistants under Greg McDermott.
Bennett Koch tied with Jeremy Morgan for game high points honors against Drake, scoring a season-high 21 points and missing his career high by one point. Senior guard Jordan Ashton (a transfer from Iowa State) may have also found his groove, as he scored a career high 17 in his 39 minutes against Drake and has averaged 13.0 ppg over his last four games.
The uneven scheduling in the MVC means that Loyola is done for the regular season with Northern Iowa after this game, before playing even one game against Indiana State, Evansville, or Southern Illinois. Finishing up with UNI so early this year might be an advantage for Loyola, as the Panthers are well coached and have been trimming their losing margins before getting a confidence-building win last time out against Drake. Have the Panthers turned the corner that many expected them to turn several games ago? Or is the UNI team really going to be the worst team of the Jacobson-McDermott era?
Although the Panthers had impressive wins over Arizona State and Oklahoma early in the season, both those teams have fallen to .500 or below. Arizona State’s best win was against 9-8 Colorado at home. Oklahoma’s best win was a home win against Texas Tech, one of only two wins Oklahoma has had against teams with a winning record. In fact, UNI is currently 0-9 against teams that are over .500. Another quirk is the Panthers are 0-10 when they score less than 70 points. They are 5-1 when scoring over 70 points.
Don’t expect the Panthers to pack it in for the rest of the season, especially under a coach like Ben Jacobson, especially at home, and especially in Jeremy Morgan’s senior season. They will fight hard in every game over the remainder of the schedule, and at home they will have their loud and dedicated fan base to support them. Whether they have enough talent and healthy players to win against Loyola at home this year is another question—hopefully Loyola brings back at least one win from Iowa this year.
LINKS
- Loyola game notes (PDF)
- Northern Iowa game notes (PDF)
- TV/Streaming video: CSN Chicago/ESPN3
- Ramblermania message board discussion
- Vegas odds: Pending
