Paul Suellentrop’s MVC report (Jan. 9)

Northern Iowa plays through injury problems

Injuries are threatening to knock Northern Iowa into places it hasn’t seen in more than 10 seasons.

The Panthers are 0-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference, 5-10 overall. Their last losing season came in 2003, two seasons into the Greg McDermott tenure that eventually revitalized the program.

Northern Iowa senior Jeremy Morgan sprained his right ankle in Sunday’s loss to WSU. He returned to the game after hurting it and coach Ben Jacobson said the injury didn’t appear likely to limit Morgan’s playing time.

That prognosis changed Monday. Jacbson said he did not expect Morgan, the MVC’s Preseason Player of the Year, to practice before Wednesday’s game at Bradley. That means Morgan will likely be a game-time decision.

“He’s pretty sore,” Jacobson said. “It sounds like he got it pretty good.”

The sprained right ankle that has sidelined Northern Iowa junior guard Wyatt Lohaus isn’t improving and his return this season remains iffy. That’s a big reason duplicating last season’s turnaround is a tough chore for the Panthers.

Last season’s team started 2-6 before finishing 11-7 and winning the MVC Tournament. Last season’s team had Lohaus and three senior guards, including second-team All-MVC pick Wes Washpun, to lean on.

Without Lohaus, UNI goes with senior transfer Jordan Ashton, redshirt freshman Spencer Haldeman and freshman Juwan McCloud in its rotation.

“Everybody has injuries and you have to have the ability as a team to rally the troops and get through those,” Jacobson said. “First-year guys make mistakes. Those types of simple plays that you work on for a couple days, they don’t always translate into the game when you’re playing first-year guys.”

Fast breaks

▪ Wichita State’s Landry Shamet was named conference player of the week after averaging 14 points in wins over Drake and Northern Iowa. He had 15 points to lead WSU in Cedar Falls on Sunday.

▪  Missouri State guard Ronnie Rousseau is out indefinitely due to personal reasons, the school announced Saturday before a loss to SIU.

In the news release, coach Paul Lusk said Rousseau’s departure is not related to discipline or academics.

Rousseau sat out a loss at Illinois State with an ankle injury.

“Since all this has happened, we haven’t had much time to practice,” Lusk said. “It’s changed some things and we need some practice.”

Rousseau averages 11.6 points and shoot 38.9 percent from three-point range.

▪  Southern Illinois is 3-1 in the MVC and coach Barry Hinson attributes its post-Christmas surge to creating turnovers.

The Salukis average 8.8 steals in MVC play, tops in the conference. It is second in turnover-margin at plus-3.25.

“We’re trying to put more pressure on the basketball,” he said. “We weren’t playing hard enough. We weren’t getting after it. That was our emphasis over break.”

▪  Hinson expects guard Armon Fletcher, SIU’s leading scorer, to sit out Wednesday’s game vs. Illinois State with a sprained foot. Fletcher missed SIU’s previous three games with the injury.

“He can’t cut and he can’t run,” Hinson said.

▪  Jacobson got a first-hand look at Wichita State’s depth when No. 3 center Rauno Nurger scored 13 points in Sunday’s 80-66 Shocker win.

“With 10 or 11 guys on this year’s team, it doesn’t have the same feel … with what (Ron) Baker and (Fred) VanVleet were doing and they were always the ones being talked about,” Jacobson said. “Defensively, that size and length with the team they have this year is a real difference-maker.”

▪  Wichita State’s Jan. 29 game at Bradley will be broadcast on ESPNU at 3 p.m.

Trending up

Southern Illinois takes a three-game win streak into Wednesday’s home game against Illinois State. The Salukis won at Missouri State on Saturday, an early season surprise. They can further upset the standings with a win over the Redbirds.

Trending down

Indiana State is 0-4 in the MVC and won’t get it turned around until it can solve its rebounding issues. The Sycamores rank last in rebound-margin at minus-15.5 in four conference games.

Get to know an MVC neighbor

Q: Name the “starting five” selected for the MVC’s All-Centennial basketball team in 2007.

A: Larry Bird, Indiana State (1976-79); Hersey Hawkins, Bradley (1984-88); Ed Macauley, Saint Louis (1946-49); Xavier McDaniel, Wichita State (1981-85); Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati (1957-60). Coach Henry Iba, Oklahoma State (1934-57).

One to watch

Illinois State at Southern Illinois, 7 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN3.com) – Defense carries the Redbirds on the road. They held Loyola to 59 points and Indiana State to 58 in their MVC road victories.

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Paul Suellentrop’s MVC report (Jan. 9)."