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Indiana Hoosiers v. Northern Iowa Panthers: IU concludes pre-conference schedule with trip to Las Vegas.

By John M. IU

Northern Iowa Panthers
Current record: 7-3
Current RPI: 101 (IU is #121)
Current Sagarin: 116 (IU is #53)
Current Pomeroy: 97 (IU is #54)
2009-10 record:  30-5 (15-3); Missouri Valley Conference Champs; lost to Michigan State in NCAA Regional Semifinal
2009-10 RPI: 17
2009-10 Sagarin: 23
2009-10 Pomeroy: 29
Pomeroy scouting report
Series:  IU leads 1-0 (IU won 29-13 in Cedar Falls on 1/13/1917)
TV: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, CBS College Sports
Blog: none

Indiana ends the non-conference portion of its schedule at the IBN/Las Vegas Classic with games tonight and tomorrow.  If IU beats Northern Iowa, IU will play the winner of the Colorado/New Mexico game at 10 p.m tomorrow.  If IU loses tonight, the Hoosiers will play in the consolation game at 7:30 tomorrow. 

Last season, UNI was among the best teams in the country.  The Panthers finished 30-5, ran away with the Missouri Valley  regular season and tournament championships, and advanced to the Sweet 16 by upsetting #1 seed Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  The Panthers lost 3 of their top 4 scorers from the 2010 team, and it does appear that 2010-11 is something of a rebuilding year, but the Panthers certainly have held their own with a 7-3 record.  The Panthers have lost at Syracuse, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (their only bad loss), and Iowa.  Still, UNI's win against #64 Iowa State is better than any of IU's wins.  Also, UNI has a road win this season, at Iowa State.

 

UNI coach Ben Jacobson is in his fifth year, and the Panthers have developed a consistent identity as a team that plays a deliberate but effective offense and rebounds the ball very well at the defensive end of the court.  UNI averages only 59 possessions per game and they hold their opponents to 25 percent on the offensive boards.  The main statistical weakness for the Panthers is from behind the arc.  The Panthers are shooting only 29 percent from three point range, which is not good for a team that takes 43 percent of its field goal attempts from behind the arc.

Here are the UNI statistics:

 

FG 3PT FT Rebounds Misc
G M M A Pct M A Pct M A Pct Off Def Tot Ast TO Stl Blk PF PPG
Anthony James 10 24.7 4.4 7.5 58.7 1.1 2.9 37.9 1.5 1.9 78.9 0.8 2.1 2.9 1.2 1.4 1.3 0.1 1.4 11.4
Kwadzo Ahelegbe 10 29.4 3.7 10.3 35.9 0.8 3.8 21.1 2.4 3.0 80.0 0.3 2.3 2.6 2.0 2.1 0.5 0.2 1.8 10.6
Jake Koch 10 26.1 2.7 6.8 39.7 1.4 4.1 34.1 3.2 3.8 84.2 1.0 4.5 5.5 1.8 2.1 0.5 1.3 2.1 10.0
Johnny Moran 10 30.4 3.3 8.4 39.3 1.9 5.3 35.8 0.8 1.6 50.0 0.8 2.5 3.3 2.3 0.9 0.8 0.0 1.1 9.3
Lucas O`Rear 10 25.7 2.9 5.0 58.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.9 3.0 63.3 2.4 3.9 6.3 1.2 1.1 0.8 0.0 3.0 7.7
Marc Sonnen 10 22.4 1.5 4.3 34.9 0.8 2.5 32.0 1.2 1.5 80.0 1.3 1.5 2.8 1.1 0.9 0.3 0.2 2.2 5.0
Kerwin Dunham 3 21.7 1.3 4.3 30.8 0.7 2.0 33.3 0.7 0.7 100.0 0.3 2.3 2.7 1.3 1.0 0.0 0.0 1.7 4.0
Chip Rank 10 14.2 1.2 3.5 34.3 0.2 1.6 12.5 0.8 1.3 61.5 1.4 1.4 2.8 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 1.9 3.4
Austin Pehl 10 11.8 1.3 2.1 61.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.6 50.0 0.4 2.9 3.3 0.0 0.9 0.2 0.3 2.5 2.9
Matt Morrison 8 8.0 0.4 1.6 23.1 0.1 1.0 12.5 0.3 0.3 100.0 0.3 0.5 0.8 0.1 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.8 1.1
Tyler Lange 5 4.8 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.8 0.6 1.4 0.4 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.6 0.0

 

As you will note, and this was true of UNI's 2010 team as well, is that they go very deep and have very balanced scoring.  Nine Panthers are in double digits in minutes, and five players range from 11.4 to 7.7 points per game.  Although UNI's overall three point numbers haven't been great, leading scorer Anthony James, along with Jake Koch and Johnny Moran, are shooting well from behind the arc.  Koch and Lucas O'Rear are the Panthers' top rebounders.

Tonight's game is an important test for IU.  IU has left Assembly Hall twice and lost both times (at Boston College and Kentucky).  IU has won all of its home games, but all against teams ranked below 100.  UNI is a quality team, but this game presents an opportunity for a quality win and for a win away from Assembly Hall.  Such wins have not been easy to come by for IU over the last two seasons, so tonight can be yet another step for the Hoosiers.  Pomeroy gives IU a 72 percent chance of victory.  Let's hope they can follow through and match the 2009-10 win total of 10 before Christmas.

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