Tempo could go a long way in determining whether St. Louis’ NCAA Tournament opening-round game is the best. How does John fare on Friday against the No. 1 seed?
The Missouri Valley Conference champions, who finished sixth in the mid-major league in the regular season, play in one of the slowest leagues in the nation.
They are chasing offensive rebounds, and lead the nation in fewest points allowed (61.3). The Johnnies, the No. 1 seed 5 in the Eastern region, opposite. They excel in transition by creating live-ball turnovers and pressuring the ball.
That’s what makes this combination interesting.
“The speed of the game is the most important thing,” said the Division I assistant coach who faced Northern Iowa this season and is familiar with St. John’s in a phone conversation. “If the speed is slowed down while playing the ball game, that would be in Northern Iowa’s favor because they will be able to do their things and look clean.
“They want it to be a back-and-forth game with a slower tempo.”
Led by longtime coach Ben Jacobson, the Panthers play a defense, the same system made popular at Virginia by Tony Bennett. They pack the paint and look to cut off driving lanes, allowing opponents to beat them from the perimeter. Northern Iowa is third in the nation in 3-point defense (28.9 percent). The Panthers are small — their tallest starter is 6-foot-8 forward Will Horneth.
“Defensively, they’re very good at transitioning, but they make it very difficult for you by packing the paint and forcing you to try to make jump shots,” the coach said. “People fall into the trap of using pack line defenses as they run, thinking that the proper training is to kick outside and shoot jumpers.
“Learning confined spaces is important. [Ejiofor] in the paint or Zuby in the dunker, and just being able to finish games at the line because the truth is there are no real blockers there.”
Northern Iowa isn’t nearly as strong on the other end of the floor. The Panthers rank 153rd in offensive efficiency and 278th in free throw percentage (69.7), and rarely go to the free throw line, attempting 14.1 per game. Only Niagara gets in line a bit. Northern Iowa’s leading scorer is senior guard Trey Campbell, who is averaging 13.7 points and was named to the All-Missouri Valley second team.
The post included a printable NCAA bracket that includes the complete 68-team field for March Madness 2026.
Northern Iowa faced two NCAA tournament finalists, losing to Saint Mary’s and coming off a top-seeded Furman. The Panthers haven’t played a single power conference opponent. They didn’t see a run like St.
“I just think St. John’s can beat them physically, whether it’s shooting the ball in the paint – and I think Northern Iowa will be forced to double-team Zuby – and whether it’s scoring or making plays with that,” the coach said.
“Then they attack the offensive glass and beat them with length and athleticism.
“The way St. John’s wants to play, to get up on you and press the ball and make it difficult for you to run your actions, I find it hard to believe that Northern Iowa has the type of players that can just break things down and go get the basket against the length and athleticism of St. John’s.
