Northern Iowa is 3-0 against ranked opponents this season, including victories over North Carolina, Iowa State and Wichita State. But the Panthers also lost 12 games before regrouping to win 13 of their last 14.
"We're not as experienced as some of the teams we've had, and we're not as deep as some of the teams we've had," said UNI coach Ben Jacobson.
"What we have gotten good at is understanding exactly what we have to do to be successful. We have to fight hard to rebound, defend the post and then we just kind of figure it out on offense.