Northern Iowa basketball clinches Missouri Valley regular-season title with thrilling win over Loyola

CEDAR FALLS — A total Missouri Valley Conference manipulation couldn't have created a better championship stage than what naturally unfolded Saturday in Cedar Falls.

The town was ready. The McLeod Center was ready. Those who've ridden this Northern Iowa rollercoaster from November to now were certainly ready. With a MVC regular-season title on the line against departing league member Loyola Chicago, the Panthers did all they could to keep those home-friendly elements relevant.

The postgame jubilation made the grind to get there more than worth it.

The Panthers ripped off a regulation rally and found enough separation to squeeze by in overtime for a 102-96 victory, clinching their second Valley regular-season title in the past three seasons. UNI (18-10, 14-4 MVC) finishes one game ahead of the Ramblers (22-9, 13-5) and will be the top seed at Arch Madness next week.

"What an unbelievable game," Panthers coach Ben Jacobson said. "Both teams just kept making plays. It felt like it was going to be that kind of game coming in. There was nothing else going on out there other than competing, playing and working."

Surviving the extra session was a mix of poise and setting off the noise. Overtime ran through AJ Green, who shook off a rare missed free throw with 27 seconds left in regulation that would've given the Panthers a one-point lead. Seven of Green's points came in the extra session, including the first five, which handed UNI its first lead since the first half at 92-90.

Sidekick Bowen Born took things from there with the Panthers' next five points, punctuated by a pivotal trey with 50 seconds remaining that handed UNI the clinching cushion. Sporting a 97-90 advantage with the home crowd bumping, the Panthers closed things late with enough free-throw success.

"It goes back to everything that's done before this time," Green said. "Bowen puts the time in without a doubt, so I have 100% faith in him that he'll make plays and do his thing down the stretch — other guys too. It's just so fun playing out there with him. I love it.

"Hopefully, there are a lot of games left in the season where we can keep doing that."

Green finished with 32 points and a 16-for-18 charity-stripe showing. The Panthers got 20 more big points from Born off the bench and another 24 from Noah Carter, who lit up Loyola early with 19 first-half points and provided the defensive spark late.

It was only fitting a title decision came down to extra action after a seesawing final stretch.

A closing flurry of lead changes, defensive intensity and plenty of free throws pushed this game to overtime after it appeared Loyola was ready to pull away late in the second half. But the Panthers finally found some defensive stability and held Loyola to five points over the final four minutes of regulation.

"In a game like this," Green said, "I think it's just who kind of wants it more. You've just got to be tougher because both teams are playing so well. Everyone has great players, so it's just doing the little things a little bit better and trying to be tougher than them to come up with some stops. We tried to guard late as a unit, all five.

"They put up a lot of points, but down the stretch when we really needed to get them, we were able to do that."

Unable to find substantial separation in the first half, UNI had to hunker down and withstand a Loyola shooting barrage similar to their first meeting in Chicago. The Ramblers drained five of their first six 3s after the break and were shooting better than 60% for much of the second half, exposing the Panthers' defense with open looks all over the floor. Loyola's highwater mark was a 69-60 edge with a little more than 12 minutes remaining.

But the Panthers brought things full circle and re-ignited the crowd when winning time ensued. The final scene was a court storming with fist-pumping and celebratory photos. A fitting stage for a hard-earned celebration.

At various points throughout this season, a moment like Saturday seemed far-fetched for this Jacobson bunch. A veteran group had to survive a rocky non-conference stretch and find footing in time to grind through the Valley the way it knew how. Early records of 2-5 and 4-7 gave way to the consistency expected from such an experienced unit.

The ultimate goal still hasn't been reached, and won't be unless UNI slices down the nets next Sunday at Arch Madness. The Panthers will open the conference tournament against the Indiana State-Illinois State winner at noon next Friday.

Unwavering confidence, though, is a dangerous thing — and the Panthers will bring plenty of it with them next week after Saturday's monumental moment.

"We never once doubted what we were capable of," Jacobson said, "not one time."

Dargan Southard covers Iowa and UNI athletics, recruiting and preps for the Des Moines Register, HawkCentral.com and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UNI clinches MVC regular-season title with overtime win over Loyola