During the days of Greg McDermott at Northern Iowa, Creighton had their way with the Panthers for the most part. Dana Altman had a way of picking apart their offense and defense leaving McDermott searching for answers.
When McDermott left for Iowa State, his assistant Ben Jacobson took over. It did take Jacobson a while, but he finally figured out the Creighton aura, taking Northern Iowa to wins in four of the past five meetings. In the first matchup this season under Greg McDermott, Creighton made a run late, but faltered at the end. Both of these teams will play each other twice in the next week. So they will be all too familiar with each other before the season is completely over.
Kelly Beaton from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier joined us earlier in the season to talk about Northern Iowa, and joins us again before the Senior Day season finale at the Qwest Center.
White & Blue Review: What has been the biggest adjustment the Panthers have had to make since the loss of Lucas O’Rear for the season?
Kelly Beaton: Trying to stop people. The Panthers have allowed six straight opponents to score 70-plus points — something that hasn’t happened at UNI since 2003.
O’Rear was also great passing out of double teams, and set tremendously effective picks to get the wheels churning for UNI’s half-court offense.
All that is gone now for UNI.
WBR: With both teams locked to play each other again in less than a week in St. Louis, is there less pressure to win this game for Northern Iowa? Has UNI had to play the same opponent back to back like this before?
KB: UNI hasn’t played a foe back-to-back to start the league tournament in at least 20 years, according to school officials.
I’d say there’s a little less pressure to win on Saturday now, yes. But the Panthers need to have at least a little positive momentum going into St. Louis, so a win would certainly aid morale.
WBR: Kwadzo Ahelegbe was on fire against Creighton in Cedar Falls. With his play this season, does he have a claim for MVC Player of the Year?
KB: I’m guessing Kwadzo, currently averaging 14.3 ppg, will get votes for player of the year. But, if Missouri State wins Saturday night to earn the conference’s No. 1 seed, I’m hearing that postseason honor is Kyle Weems’ to lose.
WBR: If Creighton shuts down Ahelegbe on Saturday, who will step up to carry the load for Northern Iowa?
KB: It would probably have to be fellow guard Johnny Moran. Shooting guard Anthony James bruised a hip pretty bad against Indiana State and looked a bit gimpy at practice yesterday; James (12.7 ppg) will start against CU, but I doubt he’ll log heavy minutes.
WBR: The Panthers have lost 5 of 6 including the BracketBuster against George Mason? What caused them to lose that game?
KB: George Mason shot 90.9 percent from the free-throw line in the second half against UNI. That’s awfully tough to overcome.
But I think GMU was the better team. The Patriots will be an interesting team to watch in March.
WBR: Kaleb Korver had high expectations when he came to Creighton and was probably unfairly compared to what his brother Kyle did at Creighton. Are there those same type of expectations for Jake Koch compared to what his brother Adam did at UNI? Does he hear those comparisons or expectations?
KB: Absolutely — on both accounts. But, as Jake and Adam told me earlier this season, they’re different types of players. Adam was a step quicker than Jake. And, conversely, Jake’s probably a better outside shooter.
Jake Koch, currently averaging 9.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, just needs to pack on some muscle in the off-season and his game should keep improving incrementally. He has also been saddled with a sore ankle of late, which has slowed him down a bit.
WBR: Does playing against an opponent on their Senior Day have any different impact on teams like Northern Iowa, especially since they lost on their own Senior Day?
KB: I don’t think that’ll have much of an impact for the Panthers Saturday. They’ve got their own problems to worry about.
WBR: What does the MVC need to do in order to get back to a top league in this tier of college basketball? Is it players and coaches? Is it scheduling?
KB: Obviously, getting more athletes like Kyle Weems would aid the MVC.
But I think the non-conference scheduling needs to get back to how rock-solid it was circa 2006. The MVC needs to rid itself of every blemish that national pundits like Jerry Palm and Joe Lunardi can pick away at — like the Tim Jankovich-style, soft-as-Charmin non-conference schedules.
Wichita State currently has an RPI of 49. Yet, the Shockers are barely even on Lunardi’s radar — meanwhile, he and Palm have Gonzaga (RPI of 71) in their current NCAA Tournament projections. There’s something amiss there that the MVC powers-that-be need to analyze and address. And fast.
WBR: What is your final prediction? In the first matchup your prediction was dead on. What will Northern Iowa need to do to walk away winners?
KB: UNI will likely have to shoot about 50 percent from 3-point range — plus get to the free-throw line early and often — to have a shot to beat Creighton in either of the next two games.
I’m not sure how UNI can handle McDermott and Echenique inside right now. Perhaps the Panthers could utilize more zone, but that’s not really in Coach Jacobson’s DNA.
As for Saturday’s game, here’s my prediction: Creighton 73, UNI 61.