William Ford
Daily Egyptian
ST. LOUIS-Entering the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as
the sixth seed, the Northern Iowa men's basketball had something to
prove.
The Panthers entered the game on a two-game skid that had many
questioning whether they belonged among the top contenders for an
at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.
Northern Iowa silenced any critics Friday with a 57-42 win over
third-seeded Missouri State in the second round of the MVC tournament.
"We lost that edge and we got it back in practice," said Northern
Iowa head coach Greg McDermott after describing the team's hard week of
preparation.
Added star guard Ben Jacobson, "We think we are in already ... we are playing for a higher seed."
Following suit of the previous three games of the day, both teams
came out stagnant offensively in the first half, missing open shots and
turning the ball over. The teams shot a combined 16 for 47 in the half.
Missouri State guard Blake Ahearn, the Valley's top scorer, was
kept scoreless in the first half. Nevertheless, the Bears held a 23-21
halftime cushion over the Panthers, who also had trouble finding
scoring opportunities for their leading scorer Jacobson.
Jacobson scored the first five Northern Iowa points of the game,
but was held scoreless for the remainder of the first half.
In the absence of Ahearn's scoring production, junior guard Tyler
Chaney provided the Bears some offensive spark hitting several key
threes to keep his team's lead at the intermission.
Northern Iowa overtook the lead at the beginning of the second
half as the Bears struggled to find any offense. Missouri State didn't
score until the 14:30 mark in the second half. At that point, though,
the Panthers had already built a lead which they pushed to double
digits after the Bear score.
Any subsequent Missouri State baskets were quickly answered as
the Bears never could cut the deficit to less than 10. Ahearn continued
to struggle along with the rest of the team and finished with just two
points, both of which came from the free throw line.
The Panthers ran away with a much needed win to pad their NCAA
Tournament resume, and Missouri State now stands with Creighton in NCAA
Tournament limbo.
"I don't know," I am not in the selection committee. Our body of
work is deserving," Missouri State head coach Barry Hinson said. "We
are far better than we were last year. This league deserves five teams
in the NCAA Tournament."
The Panthers play the Salukis at 4 p.m. Saturday in a rematch of
last week's thriller in Carbondale. The Salukis defeated Northern Iowa
46-45 on Feb. 25.
"We are looking for some revenge. They got us down in Carbondale," Jacobson said.
