Selection Sunday: Schwieger helps lead marathon men of UNI to big dance

Sometimes the road to the NCAA Tournament is both a marathon and a sprint.

Northern Iowa became the lowest seed (No. 6) ever to win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, and the first to win four games in four days on the path to a title. The Panthers will be waiting to learn their destination on Selection Sunday.

Waubonsie Valley graduate and Aurora native Ben Schwieger played an important role. The 6-foot-8 wing is the team's fourth-leading scorer and tallied a season-high 18 points in the MVC title game against UIC.

Schwieger was asked how UNI fought though the fatigue to deliver a nearly perfect performance last Sunday.

“I think it's just the mentality you attack it with,” he said in a phone interview. “Instead of letting it keep you down and thinking about how much it's going to hurt your body, you just turn it into something positive and say, 'This is going to be something fun.'”

Schwieger got into some foul trouble in the tourney opener, then played a combined 90 minutes over the next three days. So how did he feel when it was all over?

“Right after, I felt great,” he said. “Just very euphoric, I'd say. I'm sure it was a lot of the adrenaline talking. The day after and two days after was a little worse.”

Northern Iowa (23-12) isn't a fast-paced team necessarily but plays with a high amount of movement and motion in its half-court offense. So the Panthers might run an extra half-mile per game than a team that uses a lot of isolation.

The offensive movement seemed to be an important factor last week. UNI head coach Ben Jacobson is in his 20th year on the job and had the Panthers peaking at the end of the season.

“That's been a big emphasis on the offensive end for us, just trying to keep moving and keep the defense guessing,” Schwieger said. “It definitely does take a little bit more of a tax on your body, but it adds to the fun of the game.”

The glory of an NCAA Tournament berth still comes with the reality of mid-major basketball. After the title game, UNI had to endure a long bus ride from St. Louis back to Cedar Falls, Iowa. Schwieger said most of the time was spent playing a word game called “Imposter,” a favorite of the players.

“Then we all went over to the houses where most of the guys live and just kind of hung out in the living room,” he said. “We had the game going and rewatched it. Now we're just trying to regroup and get back to our regular routine.”

This was actually Schwieger's second Missouri Valley Conference title. He started at Loyola and was a redshirting true freshman when the Ramblers won the MVC, then played Ohio State in the 2022 NCAA tourney. So he watched but didn't play.

Schwieger averaged 9.2 points the following year, then his playing time diminished. So he decided to transfer, which led to a significant lifestyle change, moving from the city life of Rogers Park to relative small town calm of Iowa.

“They both have their pros and cons,” Schwieger said. “Chicago, there's so many activities to do, so you're never bored. It's a great vibe going on over there.

“Cedar Falls, there's maybe less activities, but it's all about the people you're spending time with. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what you're doing but who you're with. That's something I've really come to enjoy.”

Schwieger picked a group of friends that are heading to the NCAA Tournament. Can't do much better than that.