Hoya Saxa Hoya Saxa

[ColoradoPanther]

This should be a good game. The Panthers shouldn't have any complaints about seeding, due to our late season slide. Neither team has a particularly unfair home court advantage in Ohio, although the Panthers may possibly pick up the neutral fans cheering for the lower seed---- unless, of course, Jim Nantzy and Packer buy out all the seats.

Are the Hoyas healthy? I haven't seen anything mentioned about injuries. The Panthers should be good to go after almost two week layoff.

[JerseyHoya34]

Congratulations on the at-large bid. It should be an interesting matchup. Most Hoya fans know close to nothing about N. Iowa, and our coaches have needed to do some research of their own.

Hoyas are generally healthy, although Jeff Green, our most valuable player (IMO), was fighting through illness during the USF game and Big East Tournament.

I think it would be a mistake to underestimate Roy Hibbert. He did not have a great BET. Aaron Gray (1st team Big East and Most Improved Player) from Pitt didn't either. I think Roy needed to get his feet wet in postseason play and should be ready to go on Friday. He's done well against shorter opponents. It is the quick leapers who give him fits. I know N. Iowa is undersized in the post relative to GU, but could you elaborate on the style of your center? Is he an athletic leaper and scrapper in the mold of Hicks on Cincy or is he a slower, fundamentally sound player? If he's the latter, Roy should not have too much of a problem. If he's the former, all bets are off.

Next question... Have you seen any team this season that runs a motion-style offense of the Princeton variety? At first glance, I don't see any on your schedule, but I am not sure what you've seen in league play, as I didn't catch a MVC game this season. Sometimes teams have a tough time adjusting to the style. Two years ago, Air Force gave Texas a great half before TX made adjustments to capitalize on athleticism.

[Panthers to the Bone]

Does Bucknell count?

[MediaPanther]

-JerseyHoya34

You asked about our center. I think anyone who has seen UNI play this year would agree 100% that Eric Coleman is definately not a slower, fundamentally sound, back-to-the-basket kind of guy. No disrespect to Eric....I personally love the guy, his intensity and determination are unlike anything I've seen from a center who is 6'6" with elevator shoes on.....but he is the opposite of fundamental. He uses his left hand for every single shot, slings around one handed rocket passes that seem to always hit their mark, and just plays with wreckless abandon. That said, he's never seen anyone over 7 feet, so I'm very excited to see that match-up.

[PantherPride]

I think it's safe to say that UNI, despite playing a nice schedule this year, has not seen a team like Georgetown. They are HUGE and very athletic. Really, really tough matchup

[panther2317]

Kind of like Georgia Tech a couple mof years ago? That game two years ago told me that this team and these coaches can gameplan and show up and beat anyone. That team played in the National Championship game a couple of weeks after escaping UNI in the first round.

I hope Georgetown feels very confident. Heck, I hope they feel like they're going to win. UNI will come in with a chip on it's shoulder...and our kids play better that way.

[ejacobson]

This team thrives on the Under-Dog vibe. They always have, and it took outstanding performances from Ga Tech, and Wisconsin to get past UNI the past two years, and I think this game will be very tight and very competitve, as UNI can be a very powerful offensive team, and G-town, is a very poweful offensive team. Should be a fun game, and an interesting game plan, but to comment on the size/speed difference, look at LSU argueable one of the most athletic teams in the country, size, speed, and natural skill (albeit very young) and UNI gameplanned that to perfection. But this is going to be a tough game, for both teams.

GO PANTHERS!!!
GO MVC!!!!