Men’s basketball showing out at exhibition
Jeremy Morgan (20) goes up for a layup despite the Bemidji State defender right on him. Morgan finished the 15-16 season scoring 405 total points
Head Coach Ben Jacobson addresses the entire team during halftime against the Beavers. UNI went 21-13 last season under Coach Jacobson.
Nov 3, 2016
The UNI men’s basketball team came out Friday and demonstrated why they will still be a force to reckoned with in the Missouri Valley.
UNI stormed into the 2016-2017 season by dismantling the Bemidji State Beavers from Bemidji, MN. UNI won by a score of 71-48.
It is worth noting that BSU is a Division Two school and these games are meant for the high level teams to have an opportunity to test themselves safely. With that said, UNI fans always appreciate seeing the boys in purple putting up good numbers, even if the win doesn’t count on the record.
The game started out slightly rocky for the Panthers as they fell behind early 11-6, but they used a nice run to go up 22-13 and closed out the first half with a 38-23 lead. The first half saw the Panthers go lights out from the field, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and exactly 50 percent from three.
The second half was much the same and saw UNI lead by 20-plus points as they scored 33 in the last half. The shooting from the field was slightly better, but the three ball just didn’t happen as they only hit one out seven for 14 percent. BSU was 33 percent on the game from the field and 20 percent from three.
Freshman Juwan McCloud had a nice start to his college career, tallying 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal in his 17 minutes on the court.
Senior Jeremy Morgan’s start was a mixed bag with 10 points, two rebounds, three assists and a steal. However, Morgan’s 10 points came on 30 percent shooting while McCloud shot above 50 percent.
Freshman Spencer Haldeman and Junior Wyatt Lohaus reached 10 points for the Panthers as well. Both shot above 50 percent.
On offense, they were fine as a team, outside of 11 turnovers versus 12 assists.
The defense succeeded in forcing BSU to take bad shots. The only downside was UNI had zero blocks, which is deflated by the fact that they forced 18 turnovers.
The blocks, coupled with less than impressive inside scoring, raises some concerns about whether UNI has the size to compete.
However, that has been a continuing problem from past years and UNI overcomes every time. UNI will next play Coe at McLeod on Nov. 12.
