UNI exhibition Vs. Bemidji St.

[strike00]

UNI started their exhibition season tonight beating division II Bemidji State 71-48.

UNI struggled shooting in the first half leading only 26-23. The second half was much better. They shot just 4-19 from 3 for the game, but played pretty well in the other areas.

Tuttle had 21pts 8 rbds
Wes Washpun had 13 pts 7 rbds
Buss had 12 pts

for the Freshman that will play this year
Center Ted Friedman scored 7 pts
Jeremy Morgan scored 3.
Both looked good at times and both struggled at times. What you would expect really.

Washpun is the most athletic guard UNI has had, at least that I can remember. Drew four and 1's tonight, I just wish he could shoot a little better.

Tuttle looked really good. Strong and really went after rebounds.

The era of the 3rd Koch brother began tonight...kind of. Bennet Koch got 2 minutes at the end of the game going 1-1 with one rebound and 2 fouls, he will redshirt this year. This is the first time with Jocobson that the redshirt got time in the exhibitions,IIRC.

It's good to be back to basketball!

[Khan4Cats]

UNI shot 37% in the first half and only 1-8 from 3. Finished the game at 45% overall but only 4-19 from 3 and 11-20 at the line. Still won by 23 and held an opponent under 50.

Not exactly the up-tempo we always hear about each year pre-season but we did have two fast break dunks and an alley-oop attempt on a break that Tuttle collected a rebound and put back on. Which would come close to a few season totals in past years.

Tuttle dominated while playing more at the 4 that Jake Koch played last year. 21 points on 10 of 13 shooting, 8 boards, 5 assists, 1 turnover (when he tried dribbling the ball up full court and lost control about 3/4 of the way).

Wes Washpun had 13 points on 5-10 shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot on a straight up challenge of Bemidji's 6'8" center at the rim and zero fouls. He is definitely an athlete like UNI has not put on the floor recently.

Hard to read a whole lot on the other new guys. Friedman looks like a solid big, Morgan moves smoothly on the floor but was thinking more than letting the game just happen. The rest is getting guys reps with each other in game situations with different combinations.

Still a lot of work to do but fun to see the guys out there. A TON of experience to have to replace with the seniors that left, but good pieces to work with. A week before the next exhibition (an Iowa D-III next Friday 11/1 coached by former Panther Robbie Sieverding) and then another whole week before the opener at Ohio on 11/9.

[Khan4Cats]

Not really up for starting another thread simply for an exhibition.

UNI won its second exhibition over D-III Dubuque 85-66 after leading 41-36 at half. This game really allowed UNI fans to see the new rule enforcement in effect as there were 52 fouls called and 75 free throws shot. 32 fouls on Dubuque led to 48 free throws for UNI. No flow at all in this game. UNI was never really challenged despite the score staying close until about 10 to go. 16 missed free throws kept it from being really a wide margin.

Seth Tuttle again led UNI with 21 points and 15 boards, adding 4 assists and 3 blocks
Wes Washpun had 18 points, 2 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal
Deon Mitchell added 13 points, 3 boards, and 5 assists
Chip Rank had 10 points and 6 boards off the bench

Not much in the stat columns from the 2 freshman who will play but they looked more into the game comfort wise. Solid complimentary play from secondary guys (Bohannon 6 points 6 boards, Buss 6 points 4 boards 2 steals, Singleton 2 points 2 boards in 10 minutes and solid D on smaller guards)

First game is next Saturday, 11/9 at The OHIO University Bobcats

[pafan]

This game really allowed UNI fans to see the new rule enforcement in effect as there were 52 fouls called and 75 free throws shot. 32 fouls on Dubuque led to 48 free throws for UNI.

75 free throws at 10 sec each is about 13 minutes.

Thank god I can now buy beer at UE games.

[Wufan]

As things begin to become more apparent to us fans, I have some questions for Panther nation:

Who will play opposite of Tuttle in the front court and who will back him up? Is he more likely to play PF/C?

Can Washpun shoot?

Who backs up Mitchell at the point?

[strike00]

The way it looks, Freshman Ted Friedman will get the start at center with Tuttle playing the 4. As far as backup, Nate Buss will get some minutes at the 4, after that UNI will go small with a one post lineup, with someone like Rank playing the 4. Tuttle will play PF whenever Friedman is in the game. The coaching staff has said the want him playing more F this year.

Can Washpun shoot? As in make a motion that propels the ball in the general direction of the basket? .....sometimes.

Actually for as bad of a reputation as Washpun seems to have had with his shot, in the two exhibition games he is 8-11 from the free throw line and hit his only three he took yesterday. He is shooting 65% in the exhibitions with the vast majority being at the hoop. He is an exciting player to watch for sure, UNI hasn't had a player like him in a while.

Washpun will be the point when Mitchell is out of the game. When both are out of the game, Matt Morrison will probably be the point. But, unless both are in foul trouble, I don't see that happening much.

[valleychamp]

Washpun has been spectacular in the two exhibitions. One of the fastest, most athletic players I have honestly seen. Wes is listed at 6-1 and that's being pretty generous, yet he might just lead the league in dunks this year. Out of a timeout in the second half, Jake drew up a back-screen lob from 6-10 Tuttle to 6' Washpun and he hammered it down.

[strike00]

I really hope the way the game was officiated is on the extreme end even with the new rules. It was pretty awful to watch. Any contact on a drive was a foul no matter what kind of position the defender had, no flow at all. It wasn't one sided either, both teams got called for a lot of fouls that normally would be let go. It will be interesting watching games at the beginning of the season.

Anyway, here is a few highlights of the game as well as Jacobson talking a bit.
http://www.unipanthers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=26200&ATCLID=209296411

[UE 71]

Better get used to the whistle and what used to be silly fouls. This directive comes from the NCAA.

[CBB_Fan]

I feel the new officiating is trying to eliminate hacking and force defenders to use their feet instead of grabbing defenders. However, from what I've seen and heard good defense is not being rewarded; even when a defender has perfect position and does not touch the offensive player with their hands the referees are still calling fouls for very slight contact.

I hope this exhibition is only an example of this happening in the extreme, and not an example of what we'll see every game in the future. It seems like referees aren't discriminating at all between contact initiated by the offensive player and contact caused by bad defense and that is alarming to say the least.

Here's to not having 75 FTs a game.