The Bigger they Are…

(St. Louis, MO) – “Jake the Giant Killer” is at it once again. For the second time in five years Northern Iowa’s Head Coach Ben Jacobson orchestrated the upset of the top team in the nation.

Saturday’s 71-67 home win over North Carolina was another historic win for the Panther program. They defeated number one Kansas during the 2010 NCAA tournament.

Senior guard Wes Washpun has a habit of coming up big against the best competition. Washpun scored 16 points in the Panthers’ upset win over Wichita State in January and poured in 21 and added eight assists in Saturday’s win over the Tar Heels. Three of those points came on a half court heave at the half time buzzer.

MVC teams rarely get the chance to tangle with top ranked teams at home. Prior the season, Jacobson told me the visit by UNC would be one the biggest games they’ve ever played.

 

After the win, Jacobson told the Waterloo Courier “Fortunately and thankfully, we’ve had a couple. This isn’t the first one that has been this big. In saying that, for our team right now in the beginning of the season, to have it happen on our home floor like this with some guys changing roles and some young guys, it could not be any bigger for these guys.”

Three other Panthers reached the double figure mark in scoring as Matt Bohannon (19) and Paul Jesperson (14) each buried four, 3-point baskets. Jeremy Morgan scored 10 points. For his effort, Washpan was named the Valley’s ‘Player of the Week.’

The sell-out crowd of 7,071 celebrated and hundreds filled the the McLeod Center floor and the Missouri Valley Conference was known as a giant killing conference once again. No one leads the pack of knocking off the ‘money conference’ teams like Ben Jacobson.

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