Why They Have a Chance
No. 6 - Northern Iowa Panthers
UNI opens against Evansville (7-24, 3-17) a team they’ve defeated by 16 and by 14 points, so their path to the quarterfinals seems likely. Third-seeded Illinois State (20-11, 12-8) awaits.
The Panthers dropped two narrow decisions to the Redbirds, but in neither game were they armed with their X-factor player, Tristan Smith. The 6’5 grad-transfer has been the key to much of UNI’s success this season.
UNI is 17-6 with Smith in the lineup and one of those losses was when he was working himself back into the lineup against the Redbirds. The Panthers have a league mark of 2-6 without him and one of those losses was to Illinois State.
Jacobson says his team’s spark plug is fully healthy.
“The last two games is where he has felt like he’s got his explosiveness back,” said Jacobson. “So, he’s back and he’s really close to one hundred percent.”
UNI leads the Valley and the entire nation in points allowed (61.1). Jacobson says Smith is key to their elite defensive prowess.
“He was huge for us in terms of what we’re doing,” said Jacobson. “When he went out this year in mid-January, we really missed it. We missed his energy, his enthusiasm and his toughness. He can really move, so he’s able to guard different positions. He can handle himself in the block and he can switch.”
Bradley would likely be the Panthers next opponent and UNI split with Braves during the regular season. They were victorious with Smith in the lineup and lost without him.
In fact, UNI is 1-4 against the league’s top five teams without Smith and 3-2 with him in the lineup.