NC State plays Northern Iowa in Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals

Northern Iowa overview: Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson has guided the Panthers to four NCAA Tournament trips, with a Sweet 16 in 2009-2010.

UNI’s season went off the rails last year with seven straight losses, five of which were against Missouri Valley Conference opponents. Northern Iowa recovered to win nine out of 10 games in the league, but then ended the season with four straight losses.

Northern Iowa lost 86-69 to North Carolina to open the season, with junior power forward Luke Maye leading the way with 26 points and 10 boards Nov. 10. The Panthers have won four straight, including a 61-58 win over SMU on Wednesday. Four players scored in double figures and the Panthers held the Mustangs to 39 percent shooting from the field.

Backcourt: The Panthers have good depth on the perimeter with the three starters and sophomore super sub Spencer Haldeman.

McCloud has made a nice jump in his sophomore year, but will still need to prove himself against better opponents. He averaged just 3.7 points and 1.5 assists per game last year and shot 9 of 48 from three-point land (18.8 percent) and 28.9 percent overall.

McCloud scored 18 points against both Chicago State last Saturday and Alcorn State on Nov. 13. He is shooting 40.4 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Pickford has emerged as a rugged rebounder despite his 6-4 frame. He has grabbed at least 10 boards in three games, including a season-high 14 against Chicago State. He had a career-high 16 points and 10 boards against Alcorn State.

Brown averaged 1.8 points and 1.2 rebounds per game last year, and struggled shooting the ball, just as McCloud did. He shot 24.2 percent from the field and went 9 of 41 on three-pointers (22.0 percent).

Brown has modestly improved this season in his starter’s role and is shooting 35.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on three-pointers (8 of 24). He had 13 points and went 3 of 6 from beyond the arc at UNC.

The 6-1, 175-pound Haldeman is averaging 9.4 points in 20.6 minutes off the bench, and he’s shooting an impressive 44 percent from three-point land (11 of 25). He averaged 7.6 points per game last year and shot 31.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 154 of his 192 field-goal attempts were three-pointers.

Haldeman had 15 points and went 4 of 8 on three-pointers against both UNC and SMU this season.

Junior college transfer Miles Wentzien and sophomore Adam McDermott provide depth on the wings. The latter is the nephew of Creighton coach Greg McDermott.

The 6-3, 190-pound Wentzien is averaging 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 13 minutes per game this season. McDermott didn’t play against SMU, and the 6-4, 183-pounder averaged 6.7 points per game last year and shot 40.9 percent from three-point land. Like Haldeman most of his shots are from long range. He had 161 field-goal attempts last year, which included 137 from three-point range.

Frontcourt: Senior Bennett Koch is the third Koch brother to play for Northern Iowa, following Jake Koch and Adam Koch. The three-year starter averaged 11.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game last year, but shot 57 percent from the field. He had 11 points and four rebounds against the Tar Heels.

Koch has punished the overmatched opponents on the Panthers schedule, going for a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds in a 72-43 win over Wartburg on Nov. 15. He had back-to-back 21-point efforts last year against Drake and Loyola of Chicago in mid-January.

Carlson averaged 8.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last year, and he shot 38.9 percent from the field. He has improved to 44.4 percent this season and he had a season-high 12 points and seven boards in a 82-44 win over Chicago State on Nov. 18.

UNI rotates fifth-year senior Ted Freidman, redshirt sophomore Luke McDonnell and freshman Austin Phyfe off the bench. All are at least 6-9, and Friedman is the lone big man that averages 10.0 minutes per game off the bench. He is averaging 1.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game this season.