University of North Carolina Athletics
Know Your Opponent: UNI
December 21, 2016 | Men's Basketball
UNI (UNIPanthers.com)
Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa
Rankings: UNI - No. 86 KenPom, NR AP; UNC - No. 6 KenPom, No. 8 AP
Records: UNI - 5-5; UNC - 10-2
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNI leads 1-0 (UNI 71, UNC 67, Nov. 21, 2015, McLeod Center)
UNI's win over Carolina last season was a signature moment for one of the top mid-major programs in college basketball. The Panthers slumped badly after November, however, falling to 10-11 and starting 2-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference. But Ben Jacobson's team, led by the senior trio of Matt Bohannon, Paul Jespersen and Wes Washpun, rallied in a big way, winning nine of 10 to close the regular season. UNI then ran off three more wins to take the MVC auto bid before beating Texas in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Panthers' season ended in heartbreaking fashion when Texas A&M rallied from 12 down in the final minute of regulation and won in two overtimes.
With the big three of Bohannon, Jespersen and Washpun gone, the program is now in the capable hands of senior Jeremy Morgan. The 6-5 combo guard had 36 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to Texas A&M and now leads the Panthers in just about every statistical category on both offense and defense. Against D-I opponents, Morgan is making 41.7 percent of his 3s and 80 percent of his free throws while also being an elite defensive rebounder and capable shot-blocker. His steal rate of 4.4 percent ranks among the top 40 nationally. Needless to say, the preseason MVC Player of the Year is one of the most important players to his team in all of college basketball.
The supporting cast features a number of additional shooting threats - redshirt freshman Spencer Haldeman, graduate transfer Jordan Ashton and junior college All-American Hunter Rhodes all have made at least 40 percent of their 3-point attempts against D-I foes. Throw in junior Klint Carlson (10-27) and you've got five Panthers who can consistently connect from deep. It's no wonder that UNI is close to joining Davidson in the 50-percent-of-field-goal-attempts-from-3-point-range club.
Inside the arc, however, the offensive story is a little less rosy. The Panthers rank 339th nationally in 2-point FG% and 338th in offensive rebounding percentage, according to KenPom.com. They do protect the ball well and disrupt opposition ball handlers, as UNI ranks fifth nationally in defensive turnover rate.
UNI got off to an exciting 3-0 start with wins over Arizona State and Oklahoma in a November tournament, but the Panthers are just 2-5 since then. A scheduling quirk caused by the Tire Pros Invitational led to back-to-back games (both losses) against a very good Xavier team, and those were followed by disappointing losses to George Mason and Wyoming. UNI dropped a 69-46 decision to in-state rival Iowa last Saturday.
Carolina represents the Panthers' final non-conference test before diving into the always treacherous MVC, where Wichita State is favored once again. If Coach Jacobson's team is to make its eighth NCAA appearance since 2004, it will come down to effective three-point shooting and the star power of Morgan.
