SIU continues Valley play on Sunday in Cedar Falls.
Meet the Panthers:
The Panthers came into the season 2nd in the MVC Preseason Poll but started the season 3-4. They've played a tough schedule but are 0-5 against the top 5 teams they've played. Beating the bad teams by a lot has them sitting at #95 in KenPom despite the 7-5 record.
The Panthers have been an impressive offensive team this year. They're 68th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, 6th in the country in effective field goal % (59.3%), 11th in the country in 3 point % (40.5%), and 23rd in the country in 2 point % (58.6%).
On the defensive end, the Panthers grind out teams. Their average possession length on defense is 355th in the country (18.8 seconds). The Panthers are 88th in the country in 3 point % against (31.0%) but just 216th in the country in 2 point % against (52.4%).
The leader in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and blocks for Northern Iowa is 6-6 Senior Tytan Anderson averaging 13.3 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game, and 0.7 blocks per game. Anderson is 202nd in the country in effective field goal % (58.9%), 192nd in the country in true shooting % (61.8%), and 45th in the country in free throw rate (67.8%).
6-11 Senior Jacob Hutson is the leader on the Panthers in percentage of possessions gone through him (29.4%) which is 72nd in the country. Hutson spent his first 3 seasons at Loyola Chicago before transferring over to Northern Iowa last year. Hutson is 172nd in the country in effective field goal % (59.6%), 306th in the country in true shooting % (60.0%), and 346th in the country in 2 point % (44-73, 60.3%). Hutson also has the ability to knock down 3's, he's 422nd in the country in 3 point % (12-31, 38.7%).
The big portal get this offseason for Northern Iowa was 6-5 Sophomore Leon Bond III coming over from Virginia. Bond was a 4 star recruit out of Milwaukee, WI and played in 24 games for Virginia last season playing 12.3 minutes per game and averaging 4.1 points per game. It was a bit of a slow start this season for Bond until he exploded against Montana on December 16th for 37 points. Bond is 92nd in the country in 3 point % (11-24, 45.8%), 37th in the country in effective field goal % (66.5%), and 26th in the country in shooting % (69.0%). Bond is also 145th in the country in 2 point % (40-61, 65.6%).
Another 3 point threat on the Panthers is 6-4 Junior Trey Campbell. Campbell is in his 3rd year at UNI starting 75 of 77 games. Campbell is 23rd in the country in 3 point % (25-49, 51.0%), 103rd in the country in effective field goal % (61.9%), and 110th in the country in true shooting % (63.9%). Campbell is also 248th in the country in assist rate (23.9%).
Links:
UNI Game Notes
UNI is 6-1 at home with their only loss to a good Cal Irvine team. Their average margin of victory in the 6 home wins is 30 points! Tall task for the Salukis on the road. Hopefully they surprise us and keep it close.
Bond and Anderson are two quality wings, should be good matchups with Dibba and Davis, but what concerns me most is dealing with Hutson, as talented bigs have eaten Southern alive this season. Guessing Jacobson goes to him early and often.
OK, what actually concerns me most is Southern usually shoots about 24 percent from the floor in Cedar Falls, but other than that, definitely the post situation ... =P
Anderson will a problem because he does most of his damage in the post and baseline so he will be a difficult assignment for whoever guards him and with the amount of plays that NIU runs to get open looks from 3 and Southern's lack of success of fighting over screens could be a long day
What's the line? Doesn't matter....take UNI and give up the points. We are going to get our ass beat.
Northern Iowa seems similar to High Point to me. Good shooting team, especially from 3 and a tall big (Hutson) that will give us problems. Combine that with this being on the road and a place we never win and this one will probably be ugly.
Granted we have not played well at Frostbite Falls, but considering we have a new roster and coach I don't see that it matters.
We all talked before the season about the degree of difficulty of the nonconference schedule, but how about this conference schedule? First MVC game was against one of the league's top two teams, followed by a game at a place where even SIU's good teams usually have lost. A difficult assignment under any circumstances.
Granted we have not played well at Frostbite Falls, but considering we have a new roster and coach I don't see that it matters.
We win there once every 15-20 years. Losing Born to the Portal really hurt them, but they're considerably better than us IMO. Massey has them by 6.5.
I say at least 10 and possibly quite a bit more. Maybe we'll have one of those nights when we shoot like Steph Curry.
Go Dawgs!
Guess I will torture myself and watch tomorrow. We will be lucky to lose by 20. Expecting many missed cupcake layups, lots of missed free throws and gobs of turnovers. Then I will increase libation consumption and hope for the best in 2025.
As always, hope I'm wrong.
Go Dawgs!
March on triumphantly!
If I was Nagy, I'd make JH practice bunnies while some teammates wacked him with pool noodles.
@mr_woogers actually a good idea regarding the pool noodles. For some reason his attempts seem timid, and when he becomes aggressive, he rushes and misses bunnies. He is a very good free throw shooter if indeed they blow the whistle. My prediction is UNI 74 SIU 61. I will torture myself and watch. I am certainly used to the torture after the Chicago Bears season!!!
GO DAWGS, GO COACH NAGY!!!
@mr_woogers actually a good idea regarding the pool noodles. For some reason his attempts seem timid, and when he becomes aggressive, he rushes and misses bunnies. He is a very good free throw shooter if indeed they blow the whistle. My prediction is UNI 74 SIU 61. I will torture myself and watch. I am certainly used to the torture after the Chicago Bears season!!!
GO DAWGS, GO COACH NAGY!!!
Now now. The Bears have one of the best offensive lines in D3!
Northern Iowa is favored by 10.5
