University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Athletics Media Guides Athletics 2014 2014-2015 Panther Men's Basketball University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2015 Athletics, University of Northern Iowa Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/amg Part of the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation University of Northern Iowa, "2014-2015 Panther Men's Basketball" (2014). Athletics Media Guides. 382. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/amg/382 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Athletics at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Athletics Media Guides by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNI 2014-15 ROSTER ...... .. ......... ...... 3 SEASON RECAP . 4-5 BEN JACOBSON BECOMES UN l'S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH/MVC COACH OF THE YEAR ..... 8-9 VICTORY AT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN . 10 CANCUN CHALLENGE CHAMPIONS . 11 WIN OVER IOWA AT BIG FOUR CLASSIC IN DES MOINES ...... .. ..............12-13 REGULAR SEASON COME-FROM -BEHIND WIN AT ILLINOIS STATE ... ....... .... .... 14 BREAKING INTO THE TOP 25 . 15 WIN AT HOME OVER WICHITA STATE ..... .. ... 16-17 INDIVIDUAL HONORS ... .. .... .. ... ... 18-21 MVC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS IN ST. LOUIS .. .. .22-23 NCAA TOURNAMENT, SEATTLE, WA ..... ... .. .24 -27 SCHEDULE/RESULTS .. .. .. .... .. ... .. .. 28 1 Deon Mitchell G 6-1 196 Sr. Pflugerville, Texas (Pflugerville) 2 Klint Carlson F 6-7 225 RFr. Waverly, Iowa (Waverly-Shell Rock) 3 Ted Friedman C 6-9 245 So . Ankeny, Iowa (Ankeny) 4 Paul Jesperson G 6-6 206 Jr. Merrill, Wis . (Virginia) (Merrill) 5 Matt Bohannon G 6-4 195 Jr. Marion, Iowa (Linn-Mar) 10 Seth Tuttle F 6-8 240 Sr. Sheffield, Iowa (West Fork) 11 Wes Washpun G 6-1 175 Jr. Cedar Rapids (Washington) 12 Marvin Singleton F 6-6 237 Sr. Minneapolis, Minn. (Hopkins) 13 Kasey Semler G 6-1 200 Jr. Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Kirkwood) (Marion) 14 Nate Buss F 6-9 212 Sr. Charles City, Iowa (Charles City) 20 Jeremy Morgan G 6-5 192 So . Coralville, Iowa (Iowa City West) 22 Robert Knar G 6-1 180 RFr. Mundelein, Ill. (Mundelein) 23 Taylor Olson G 6-1 193 Jr. Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Kirkwood CC) (Jefferson) 24 Max Martino G 6-5 215 Sr. Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Kennedy) 25 Bennett Koch F 6-9 232 RFr. Ashwaubenon, Wis. (Ashwaubenon) 33 Wyatt Lohaus G 6-2 185 Fr. North Liberty, Iowa (Iowa City West) NORTHERN IOWA'S PHENOMENAL SEASON ENDS 1 GAME SHY OF SWEET 16 By Luke Meredith Associated Press Writer An NCAA Tournament loss just a game shy March. of the Sweet 16 shouldn't obscure what the The first inkling that 2014-15 could be a University of Northern Iowa accomplished special season came way back on Nov. this season. 18, when UNI won at eventual Southland The Panthers showed they can compete with Conference champion Stephen F. Austin, any program in the country when everything which later fell to Utah as a 12 seed in the falls into place. NCAA Tournament. During the season, the Panthers rolled The Panthers then rolled past rival Iowa on a past Iowa and reeled off 16 straight wins neutral floor in Des Moines, which helped - including a thrashing of Wichita State - to put the program back in the national set them up for an historic run through the spotlight. Valley. UNI (31-4) set a school record for wins, UNI lost its first league game and its last. moved into the top 10 for the first time But in between, the Panthers reeled off 16 and won the Missouri Valley conference straight victories, including a rout of the tournament before losing to Louisville on Shockers in Cedar Falls. March 22 in Seattle. Losing in the regular-season finale at "They raised the bar again. I love them Wichita gave the Shockers the league title . for that. We have had a lot of good things But UNI made up for it with three wins in a happen at Northern Iowa in our men's row in St. Louis at the league tournament. basketball program, and these guys raised The Panthers then beat Wyoming in Seattle, the bar one more time. That's hard to do with but fell one win short of matching their 2010 some of the things we have done, but they team and reaching the regional semifinals. did it. And it took a lot of sacrifice, and I'm really, really proud of them for that," head "Everybody that's been around our program coach Ben Jacobson said. and all the young guys and families we're recruiting right now, they just saw the best It won't be easy for the Panthers to replicate entire season," Jacobson said . "We didn't their success next season. That's mostly get to the Sweet 16, so that's the only thing because years like this one don't come we didn't match. But they just saw the best around too often at any school. four months of basketball our program has UNI was expected to push Wichita State in ever had, and that's saying a lot." the Valley. But few expected the Panthers to UNI does have a nice core returning, led play as great as they did from November to 4 Lohaus. But developing some big men to fill in for Seth Tuttle and Marvin Singleton will be crucial to UN l's hopes for another strong season in the Valley. Still, the 2014-15 season will be remembered as the one that showed just how high the ceiling can be for the Panthers. "You know that for the years to come, every time you walk into the gym in Cedar Falls at UNI you're going to see guys working, whether it's a red shirt or a senior, they're going to be in the gym getting their shots up, they're going to be in the weight room working as hard as they possibly can," Nate Buss said. "I think that's a standard that's going to be continued for years to come. I • ' . I ' I .... , , . ... • • • --: --~- -- -~-• - \ . • - I - .: , j ~·-; • • \- , , -~ ,-:;,.~. ·•. ... .~/~ ~- . .. =---'""'' ..i.,..--!. "'!-. f • -. ,..I [.- . ~ flr • ; ~ • ·· .; ·, t ' ,, , ·i_ 1 ~Ii~ ;, . ,I I ,, 1, UNl'S RISE / IN THE TOP 25 DATE COACHES AP • NOV.17,2014 RV NOV 24, 2014 RV RV DEC.1,2014 RV RV ,., DEC.8,2014 24 23 DEC. 15,2014 RV RV • · DEC. 22, 2014 24 23 DEC.29,2014 23 23 JAN. 5, 2015 23 RV JAN. 12, 2015 22 23 JAN. 19, 2015 19 20 JAN. 26, 2015 18 18 FEB. 2,2015 15 14 FEB. 9,2015 12 13 FEB. 16, 2015 1 1 11 FEB. 23, 2015 10 10 ' MARCH 2, 2015 12 11 MARCH 9, 2015 11 10 RV - RECEIVED VOTES BEN JACOBSON > Becomes UNl's all-time winningest coach vs. North Dakota on November 15, 2014 > 2014-15 MVC Coach of the Year CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - University of Northern Iowa head ST. LOUIS, Mo. - University of Northern Iowa ninth-year head coach Ben Jacobson become the school's all-time wins leader coach Ben Jacobson has been named the Missouri Valley on Nov. 15 when the Panthers recorded a 64-52 victory over Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in his tenure the University of North Dakota in the McLeod Center. with the Panthers. The victory was No. 167 in Jacobson's nine-year coaching Jacobson received 26 of a possible 47 first-place tallies career - surpassing O.M. "Hon" Nordly's total of 166 wins from and 115 total points to outdistance all other vote-getters. 1938-43, 1946-54. Voting was conducted by league coaches, media and sports information directors. Wichita State's Gregg Marshall finished The Panthers used a career-high tying 24 points from senior runnerup in the voting after earning the award for the past Seth Tuttle and 15 points off the bench from junior Wes three seasons. Washpun to put away UNO . ~ Jacobson guided the Panthers to a 31-4 mark, a school-record .\ ·'.."·:. UNO held a 15-9 lead with 1_2:02 left in the first half on a bucket 16-game winning streak and a top-10 national ranking this 7') from Terrel de Rauen . UNI tied the game 15-15 on a 6-0. The season. It is the sixth 20 -win season for Jacobson, who also tl':,Panthers trailed 24-21 with 3:16 left in the half, but was able to became UN l's all-time winningest coach in the season-opener respond and took a 31-29 advantage into the intermission. against North Dakota . This year marks the 12th straight season that UNI has won nine or more league games and finished in UNO knotted it up at 31-31 to begin the second half on a basket the upper half of the MVC standings. It is the fourth straight by Chad Calcaterra . UNI used a 9-0 run to push the margin to season that UNI has finished in the top three of the final league 40-31 with 15:01 left in the second half. The Panther run was capped by a three-pointer from Nate Buss. standings. Jacobson is tied with Henry P. Iba (Oklahoma A&M), Ken UN l's Deon Mitchell scored with 7:58 left in the game to give Hayes (Tulsa, New Mexico State) and Gregg Marshall (Wichita the Panthers a 12-point lead at 50-38. UNO could only get to State) for the second-most MVC Coach of the Year Award within nine points the rest of the way as the Panthers posted honors.