Northern Iowa, UNLV Rebels play for right to face No. 1 Jayhawks
Let's hope the Northern Iowa and UNLV fans enjoy themselves Thursday at Oklahoma City's Ford Center. With Kansas waiting for the winner, this will be a short dance lesson.
It’s tough being an eight- or nine-seed at March Madness. Not only do you have to play a highly competitive matchup in the first round, but if you win, you also have to face (barring a miracle) your region’s No. 1 seed two days later.
Not an easy path to the Sweet 16 – especially when the No. 1 in question is also the No. 1 team in college basketball.
Welcome to the Midwest Regional. This Thursday night (7:10 p.m. ET, CBS), the No. 8 UNLV Rebels and the No. 9 Northern Iowa Panthers will go hammer-and-tong, with the mighty Kansas Jayhawks looming like vultures in the second round. There might not be much left for the Jayhawks to scavenge after Thursday. This promises to be a tight defensive battle between the Rebels (25-8 SU, 19-12 ATS) and the Panthers (28-4 SU, 20-11 ATS), with UNLV favored by a single point and the total dropping to 113.5 on the early betting odds.
UNLV has been in this situation before – just two years ago, in fact. The Rebels were seeded No. 8 in the Midwest and handed the No. 9 Kent State Golden Flashes (-1½) a 71-58 whipping to advance to the second round, where they were decimated by Kansas. This time around, UNLV gets an upgrade from the MAC champions to the Missouri Valley Conference champions. This is the second of back-to-back Tournaments for the Panthers, who lost 61-56 to the Purdue Boilermakers last year but covered as 8½-point underdogs.
That was Ben Jacobson’s first trip to the Big Dance as Northern Iowa’s head coach. Yet he and the Panthers are no strangers to this environment. Jacobsen spent five years in Cedar Falls under Greg McDermott, who led UNI to the Tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before leaving for Iowa State. The Panthers went 2-1 ATS in those three first-round games, barely missing the trifecta in a 54-49 loss to the Georgetown Hoyas (-3½) four years ago.
Nicely done, but UNLV coach Lon Kruger still has the experience advantage between the two. Kruger has been to the Big Dance nine times before, taking the Rebels to the Sweet Sixteen in 2007 with a pair of upset victories over Georgia Tech (-2½) and Wisconsin (-6). Kruger has also been to the Elite Eight with Kansas State (1988) and the Final Four with Florida (1994). He’s a character coach, and the Rebels have bought in, playing man-to-man defense with gusto and taking the 'under' to a 7-3 record over the past 10 games.
Again, nicely done. But Jacobsen counters with an even more impressive man-to-man defense with the 'under' at 21-7 on the season and 15-4 during the past two months of action. The Panthers are No. 13 in all of Division I in defensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy; UNLV ranks No. 29. Northern Iowa is also second in the nation in points allowed at 54.4. Both teams deploy their benches to keep the intensity going non-stop. It’s going to get ugly this Thursday at Ford Center in Oklahoma City.
It’ll get even uglier at the other end of the floor. Although both teams are excellent at protecting the ball, offense remains a big problem.
Northern Iowa runs one of the slowest paces in the country – only five of the 347 teams in Division I get more possessions per game. The Panthers don’t shoot very well from anywhere other than the free-throw line (75.4 percent), but with their defense and UNLV’s tendency to commit fouls, that might be all they need. Northern Iowa is 19-0 SU and 16-2 ATS this year when scoring at least 60 points.
UNLV takes things at a medium pace on offense, making big strides since last year’s trip to the NIT. However, the Rebels are shooting just 33.1 percent from downtown and don’t grab very many offensive rebounds. There won’t be very many second chances for either side in this matchup. But there will be blood.
Let's hope the Northern Iowa and UNLV fans enjoy themselves Thursday at Oklahoma City's Ford Center. With Kansas waiting for the winner, this will be a short dance lesson.
It’s tough being an eight- or nine-seed at March Madness. Not only do you have to play a highly competitive matchup in the first round, but if you win, you also have to face (barring a miracle) your region’s No. 1 seed two days later.
Not an easy path to the Sweet 16 – especially when the No. 1 in question is also the No. 1 team in college basketball.
Welcome to the Midwest Regional. This Thursday night (7:10 p.m. ET, CBS), the No. 8 UNLV Rebels and the No. 9 Northern Iowa Panthers will go hammer-and-tong, with the mighty Kansas Jayhawks looming like vultures in the second round. There might not be much left for the Jayhawks to scavenge after Thursday. This promises to be a tight defensive battle between the Rebels (25-8 SU, 19-12 ATS) and the Panthers (28-4 SU, 20-11 ATS), with UNLV favored by a single point and the total dropping to 113.5 on the early betting odds.
UNLV has been in this situation before – just two years ago, in fact. The Rebels were seeded No. 8 in the Midwest and handed the No. 9 Kent State Golden Flashes (-1½) a 71-58 whipping to advance to the second round, where they were decimated by Kansas. This time around, UNLV gets an upgrade from the MAC champions to the Missouri Valley Conference champions. This is the second of back-to-back Tournaments for the Panthers, who lost 61-56 to the Purdue Boilermakers last year but covered as 8½-point underdogs.
That was Ben Jacobson’s first trip to the Big Dance as Northern Iowa’s head coach. Yet he and the Panthers are no strangers to this environment. Jacobsen spent five years in Cedar Falls under Greg McDermott, who led UNI to the Tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2006 before leaving for Iowa State. The Panthers went 2-1 ATS in those three first-round games, barely missing the trifecta in a 54-49 loss to the Georgetown Hoyas (-3½) four years ago.
Nicely done, but UNLV coach Lon Kruger still has the experience advantage between the two. Kruger has been to the Big Dance nine times before, taking the Rebels to the Sweet Sixteen in 2007 with a pair of upset victories over Georgia Tech (-2½) and Wisconsin (-6). Kruger has also been to the Elite Eight with Kansas State (1988) and the Final Four with Florida (1994). He’s a character coach, and the Rebels have bought in, playing man-to-man defense with gusto and taking the 'under' to a 7-3 record over the past 10 games.
Again, nicely done. But Jacobsen counters with an even more impressive man-to-man defense with the 'under' at 21-7 on the season and 15-4 during the past two months of action. The Panthers are No. 13 in all of Division I in defensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy; UNLV ranks No. 29. Northern Iowa is also second in the nation in points allowed at 54.4. Both teams deploy their benches to keep the intensity going non-stop. It’s going to get ugly this Thursday at Ford Center in Oklahoma City.
It’ll get even uglier at the other end of the floor. Although both teams are excellent at protecting the ball, offense remains a big problem.
Northern Iowa runs one of the slowest paces in the country – only five of the 347 teams in Division I get more possessions per game. The Panthers don’t shoot very well from anywhere other than the free-throw line (75.4 percent), but with their defense and UNLV’s tendency to commit fouls, that might be all they need. Northern Iowa is 19-0 SU and 16-2 ATS this year when scoring at least 60 points.
UNLV takes things at a medium pace on offense, making big strides since last year’s trip to the NIT. However, the Rebels are shooting just 33.1 percent from downtown and don’t grab very many offensive rebounds. There won’t be very many second chances for either side in this matchup. But there will be blood.
