This past Friday (March 6th), the UNI Panthers conference tournament run came to abrupt end by way of in state rivals Drake. To tell the full story of this game, we have to go back only a week, where the Panthers of UNI beat the Bulldogs 70-43 at the Knapp Center the week before, Drake’s Senior Day. When the Panthers were matched up with the Bulldogs again, most thought the Panthers would go for the sweep against Drake this season, they couldn’t have been more wrong.
Drake got out to an early lead in this game, with Drake leading by 17 points half way through the first half, up 33-16 with five minutes to go. When the first half ended, UNI did get it into within 10, down 43-33 at the half, Drake scored 43 points in their last meeting.
This season for the Panthers was a very fun one, the team went 25-5 in the regular season and sealed up the regular season title with the win over Drake, who had lost one game at home all season prior to the UNI game. With the success, there were tense moments. Throughout the season, the Panthers would find themselves down early in the game but storm back in the second half and pull out a nice victory, watching this game, I thought the same would happen.
As the second half got underway, the Panthers pulled back within two, down 50-48 eight minutes into the half. Alright, here come the Panthers, right on schedule, right? Wrong! After the Panthers pulled the game back, Drake pulled away, going on an 18-0 run right after the Panthers reached the 48 point milestone. Along with that, the Panthers didn’t score a basket for 10 minutes!
As the game drew closer to the end, the outcome was all but sealed up, UNI couldn’t score and Drake couldn’t miss, not a good formula for winning.
The horn sounded in St. Louis with Drake coming out 77-56 victors, awaiting the winner of Bradley and Southern Illinois. After the game, conversations started regarding UNI’s tournament hoops. What seemed like a foregone conclusion that UNI would make it, was now in question, with Bracketologist Joe Lundari putting UNI as the 68thteam in the tournament. For those who don’t know, there are 68 teams in the field.
The tournament continued as per usual, with the Bradley Braves taking home their second straight conference tournament title. Bradley finished the regular season 23-11, 11-7 in conference play, which was good enough for the four seed in the tournament. As of right now, Lunardi has Bradley as a 14 seed in the Big Boy Tournament.
Does Bradley winning the tournament completely rule out UNI’s tournament hopes? Most would say yes, it does, but I still believe there is a chance, though very small, the Panthers make the Tournament.
This season, the Panthers won 25 games, though the NCAA will only count 23 due to UNI playing two DIII schools at the start of the season. They beat the likes of South Carolina, Colorado, and Loyola this season, all impressive wins, but had some tough losses to the likes of Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, and Drake (in the Conference Tournament). Those loses being said, the Panthers only no games by double digits in the regular season and finished undefeated at the McLeod Center for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
They also walked away with the regular season conference title, had two first team All-Conference members, AJ Green and Austin Phyfe, the former being named Conference Player of the Year. They also had the Defensive Player of the Year, Isaiah Brown, and the Coach of the Year, Ben Jacobson.
Now, they do have a spot locked for the NIT by winning the regular season conference title, but who really wants to play in the NIT, let alone watch the thing? The Panthers NEED to play in the NCAA Tourney.
You can make a case for UNI making and missing the tournament, making compelling arguments for both. Some think this team is over rated and over hyped, whereas others view this team as one of the most fun teams to watch in the nation.
After watching almost every Panther game this season, I believe this team deserves to be in the tournament. I truly believe this team could make some noise in the NCAA Tournament. Yes they lost in the Conference Tournament, but should that take away from the four months prior? The Panthers proved how good they were throughout the entire season, it would be a shame if this team wouldn’t make the dance.
Comentarios