This is Northern Iowa basketball in a nutshell: The Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year goes scoreless in the league’s tournament championship game Sunday and the Panthers beat Wichita State going away, 67-52, before 9,297 at the Scottrade Center.
“I wouldn’t have thought we’d win the game (with Adam Koch going without a point), let alone by double figures,” UNI coach Ben Jacobson said. “But the depth on our team showed up today.”
In a big way. The five-man second team logged 79 minutes and scored 21 — the scoring average for the Panthers’ bench in this tournament.
The most important one Sunday was also a Koch, Adam’s little brother, Jake, who scored 13 after not taking a shot in the tournament’s first two games.
“Our bench was the biggest difference in the game,” UNI guard Ali Farokhmanesh said. “They made huge plays for us and wore down the starters for Wichita.”
The Panthers trailed the physically punishing game 41-37 with 14:35 left when that depth really took effect. Each playing three games in three days, Wichita State missed its next 15 shots and Northern Iowa went on a 13-point run — begun by center Jordan Eglseder’s’ three-point play at 12:06 and ended by Johnny Moran’s 3 at 5:04.
The 19-3 spurt effectively ended the NCAA hopes of the second-seeded Shockers, who at 25-9 overall, a 43 RPI and a 284 nonconference schedule strength, are likely on the outside looking in.
“I don’t know, 25 wins, a couple of top 25 victories, a very talented team, I think our team is built for postseason play,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. “We’ve got size, we’ve got long, rangy athletes. We’re going to defend.
“Today, I don’t know what happened. I know we turned the ball over (16 times). I thought we settled for too many jump shots (during the scoring drought). They’re well-coached, seasoned. They’ll win at least one, if not two games, in the NCAA tournament.”
The Panthers’ championship marked the first time since Illinois State in 1997-98 that a No. 1 seed has won back-to-back titles.
“They’re very different,” Jacobson said. “Last year we just got things rolling. But this year, it takes a very determined effort every day because of what those expectations are (as the league favorite). I’m proud of our guys for that determination they showed.”
UNI guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored a game-high 24 and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Eglseder, Wichita State’s center Garrett Stutz and guard Clevin Hannah and Bradley’s Sam Maniscalco.
“When you can get to the basket and nobody’s there because you have two great shooters (spotting up), it’s easy, easy money,” Ahelegbe said. “But I don’t focus on that. I just focus on playing defense because if I don’t, my coach might whip my butt.”
Indeed, these Panthers are a defense-first group, as was quite evident during their second-half burst. For the game, the Shockers shot 33 percent from the field. For the tournament, UNI allowed its three opponents an average of just 44 points.
“I really like how we played here,” Jacobson said. “So that momentum helps as we go into practices (heading into the NCAA tournament). We’ve got a chance to get better during the next five or six days before Selection Sunday.”
And the Panthers also have a chance for a much better seed than last year’s 12, which yielded a first-round matchup against Purdue and a five-point loss.
“It feels good knowing that we’re going to be one of the teams (in the tournament),” said Ahelegbe.
And likely the one and only NCAA hope for the Valley
Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or at dreynolds@pjstar.com
