What To Watch For: South Florida at Northern Iowa
TAMPA, Fla., (Dec. 11, 2022) – South Florida aims for its fourth win in its last five games when the Bulls travel to the Midwest for their second true road game of the season in a matchup with Northern Iowa Monday night.
USF defeated Charleston Southern 79-59 on Dec. 2 in its last outing before taking a week off for final exams.
UNI has lost three of its last four, including 52-49 to McNeese State Friday night.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against Northern Iowa:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (3-6) vs. Northern Iowa (3-6)
Date: Monday, Dec. 12
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: McLeod Center | Cedar Falls, IA
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 102.5 HD-2 & Bulls Unlimited (TuneIn)
History: This is the first ever meeting between USF and UNI.
The Opponent: The Panthers return 11 players from the 2021-22 team that won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship, including MVC Sixth Man of the Year Bowen Born, who earned Preseason Second Team All-MVC honors. Coach Ben Jacobson is in his 17th season at the helm of the program. They were picked fifth in the MVC pre-season poll. The flu bug is traveling through the team and a few guys have missed games recently.
A third year sophomore, Born was the MVC Freshman of the Year in his true freshman season. He leads the team in scoring (22.4 ppg) assists (23) and has the highest three-point percentage on the team among players with at least 20 attempts (41.1 percent).
A lefty combo guard, Born is an aggressive scorer and very crafty. He creates threes off the bounce – he loves step-backs – and using ball screens. Born scores on off-ball actions (drive-and-kicks and stagger also pin down screens). Stay down on his pump fakes.
Nate Heise is out for a few weeks after surgery on his left middle finger. Freshman Michael Duax has stepped into the starting lineup in Heise’s absence. Duax is a strong, physical and athletic forward. A strong driver who can go either way, Duax is a capable shooter with his feet set. Good offensive rebounder.
Tytan Anderson is a 6-foot-6, 200-pound lefty 4-man. He is long, athletic and stays active. Wants to get to his left hand in the post but can drive either way. He likes to dribble into the post and spin. Anderson runs the floor well, is a good cutter and crashes the offensive glass.
True freshman guard Trey Campbell has started every game this season. He is a good shooter. He gets open threes off drive-and-kicks and in the flow of the offense. Likes to use ball screens and is a capable driver going right. He will initiate the offense some.
James Betz is a 6-foot-6, 224-pounder who always seems to be setting a screen. He has good footwork and good touch. He will pick-and-pop and is a capable three-pointer shooter. UNI guards will throw it to him in pick-and-roll action. Betz likes to get into fade aways, turnaround jumpers and up-an-unders. He plays a lot of perimeter in their ‘5-Out’ offense.
Third-year sophomore Cole Henry started the last two games. He is a long lefty post. A good screener and passer in their system. Will post hard and prefers to score over his right shoulder.
UNI spreads the court and runs a lot of ‘5-Out’ with quick hitting sets with a lot of screening. I saw stagger, pin downs and flare screens. They move and share the ball well.
Defensively Northern Iowa plays almost exclusively man (99%). Their transition defense is a weakness. UNI also will double to post on the catch. We only saw them apply backcourt pressure on five possessions. They will use a 1-2-2 three-quarter court trap with Duax on top after a made basket. We also saw man pressure when down late in the game.
KEYS TO A WIN
Play with good tempo. UNI wants to control the game they don’t want to play up-and-down. Get paint touches and play off of two feet. No open threes. UNI attempts 23 three-pointers per game. USF must be there on the catch. Guard the ball, be active in the gaps and be relentless on the glass.