Dargan Southard
There was no easing into Saturday’s mess. Call it more of a headfirst plunge into offensive futility for Northern Iowa.
After regaining some stability last week following a four-game skid, Northern Iowa fell flat in emphatic fashion. Spearheaded by a dreadful first half that saw the Panthers slog through three separate scoring droughts of four-plus minutes, UNI showed little resistance in Saturday’s 69-46 Hy-Vee Classic loss to Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena, signaling the Panthers’ worst loss to Iowa since Dec. 5, 2000.
“We needed to play better offensively in the first half," said UNI coach Ben Jacobson, whose Panthers shot an abysmal 19 percent (6-for-31) in the opening 20 minutes.