Missouri Valley Basketball: Wes Washpun sends Northern Iowa to Big Dance

Northern Iowa will represent Missouri Valley basketball in the Big Dance thanks to Wes Washpun.

Exhale college basketball fans and welcome to March.

Northern Iowa, who has now won 12 out of 13 games, captured the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title, defeating Evansville 56-54 on a crazy Wes Washpun buzzer beater.

Ben Jacobson‘s Panthers will be dancing for the second straight year and are likely headed towards a 12 or 13 seed, which puts them in solid position to pull off a first round upset.

It wasn’t even close to an easy win for the Panthers though, as they coughed up a 17-point lead in the second half and gave the Purple Aces plenty of momentum down the stretch. Similar to Saturday’s game versus Wichita State, Northern Iowa responded in excellent fashion during adversity.

So don’t count out this team during the tournament and as a matter of fact, remember that they have beaten Iowa State, North Carolina and Wichita State (twice).

This is a powerhouse at the mid-major level and they always seem to have success in the postseason.

The speed demon

Washpun’s heroics are giving UNI a trophy and a berth in the best tournament in America, but he didn’t just impact the game in the final seconds. The 6’1″ senior was a nuisance all day and for that matter, all season long.

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He finished with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and two steals on Sunday afternoon. On the season, Washpun has blown away his career highs in points per game, assists per game and steals per game.

When he is playing his best basketball, Washpun puts this team on another level because of his ability to break down the defense, blow past defenders with his unique speed, finish around the rim with his brilliant floaters and snag steals due to intense defense. His motor does not stop, making him the engine for UNI on both ends of the floor.

The Cedar Rapids native can get reckless at times, but it says something about his game that Jacobson did not call a timeout on that final possession. The coach trusted the veteran to do his thing and he delivered.

Tale of two halves

In the opening 20 minutes, it looked like the Panthers were set to run the Purple Aces off the court. Egidiju Mockevicius, who is the top rebounder in the country but is not all that mobile, had difficulty defending Klint Carlson (13 points in first half) on the perimeter.

The Panthers were able to use their five-out style of play to spread the floor and let Carlson attack Mockevicius off the dribble or create lanes for Washpun to penetrate.

This major match-up problem and the tremendous defense played on Purple Aces’ leading scorer, D.J. Balentine (five first half points) helped the Panthers build a 14-point halftime advantage.

But the game flipped in the second half as Evansville turned up their defensive energy and Carlson completely fell off the map, putting up just four points. The Purple Aces also received production from Jaylon Brown (18 total points), which in turn, took pressure off Balentine.

Evansville played with desperation to go on a 29 to 12 run over the course of 14 minutes. Balentine played freely and kept moving without the ball on his way to 15 second half points, as the senior leader gave the number two overall seed in the tournament a 48-47 lead with 3:39 to play.

Then it was up to Washpun and he sealed the deal.

Is a long run possible?

Depending on their draw, there is no question that Northern Iowa can do serious damage in the NCAA Tournament. They are smart, made up of terrific shooters, can get after it on defense and they don’t turn it over.

Between Washpun, Paul Jesperson, Matt Bohannon and Jeremy Morgan, the Panthers have plenty of experience and talent.

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And most importantly, they are white hot at the right time.