Northern Iowa Head Coach Ben Jacobson has coached a lot of games at Northern Iowa. He’s won Missouri Valley titles, NCAA Tournament games and has coached the most games in Missouri Valley Conference history. On Friday afternoon, he  reminded us once again why he’s won as much as he has.

The Panthers opened their 2024 Arch Madness campaign with a grind-it-out 67-62 win over Belmont. The Belmont Bruins had been cruising in the final month of the season, winning eight of their final nine, including a blowout win over Valparaiso in the first round. Northern Iowa was able to make the game extremely physical both inside and on the perimeter, holding the Bruins to 12-19 on layups and 8-27 from three.

Jacobson was very complimentary of his team’s performance.

“When you know what’s on the line and you rise up… says a lot about our guys,” Jacobson said.

One of the reasons that a physical style worked for Northern Iowa this afternoon was the play of Tytan Anderson. The junior forward finished the game with 19 points and 19 rebounds and was also a force defensively.

“Defense is something we pride ourselves on,” Anderson said.

The Panthers have been a top five team defensively in the MVC this season and have won many key games with great defense.

Awaiting Northern Iowa in the semifinals tomorrow is the Missouri Valley Regular Season Champs. Indiana State knocked off Missouri State in the first quarterfinal of Friday by a score of 75-59.

The Sycamores and Panthers only met once this season and it ended in a 77-66 Indiana State victory in Cedar Falls.

Jacobson said it’s been awhile since he scouted Indiana State and also added not much has changed with their scheme.