Moran finds his niche

Jacobs graduate Johnny Moran is a sophomore starting guard for Northern Iowa, which will find out today how high it is seeded in the NCAA tournament. (Photo provided)

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Inside the Northern Iowa men’s basketball locker room is a scoreboard that doesn’t tally points.

“It lists the stuff that doesn’t show up in the stats,” said P.J. Hogan, an assistant coach for the Panthers.

The board keeps track of UNI’s defensive player of the game, along with offensive rebounds, assist-to-turnover ratio, charges taken and loose balls.

For Jacobs graduate Johnny Moran, a difficult sophomore season on offense has not kept him out of the starting lineup.

Despite his offensive struggles, Moran has become one of the most reliable defensive players for the Panthers (28-4), who expect a strong seed today when the NCAA tournament pairings are announced at 5 p.m. on CBS.

For the second year in a row, Moran and the Panthers won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and earned the league’s automatic NCAA bid.

Although his scoring is down by nearly three points a game, Moran has been a fixture on the locker-room scoreboard.

“I don’t usually get on there for the other stuff, but I’m on there for charges and loose balls,” Moran said.

“A lot of what playing defense is about is just wanting to play defense,” said Moran, who is averaging 5.6 points a game and shooting 33 percent for the season, yet leads the team with 33 steals.

Moran’s effort has helped UNI earn a big reputation for its defense. The Panthers, who were ranked No. 25 this week in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, are second nationally in points allowed at 54.3 a game.

“We’re a very confident team right now,” Moran said. “I think we deserve between a six and an eight seed. I really think we can make some noise (in the tournament).”

Although the Panthers have made plenty of national highlight shows by winning 45 of their past 54 games dating to last season, Moran has his own private highlight show.

“I watch film with coach P.J. after every game,” Moran said. “He points out my mistakes and points out what I’m doing right.”

The personal film sessions, along with Moran’s work on improving his quickness, have paid off.

“Usually, it’s more bad than good,” Hogan joked about the film clips he shows Moran. “But at the end of the day, 95 percent of the time he’s in the right spot. The great thing about Johnny is that he wants to get better. He can take the good with the bad. He’s done a phenomenal job.”

Moran’s skills on defense, Hogan said, came with him from Jacobs, but they have been sharpened in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

“He was one of the best help defenders we’ve ever had come into our program from high school,” Hogan said. “He’s taken it on himself to focus on the defensive end of the floor. He’s done a better job guarding the ball. He’s in a better stance. He’s done a better job chasing guys around screens.”

In three games at last week’s MVC tournament in St. Louis, Moran and UNI allowed three opponents to shoot 33 percent from the field and score only 44 points a game. It was more evidence of how stifling the Panthers can be to opposing offenses.

“You can tell when you see the other team getting frustrated,” Moran said.

Although Moran has scored in double figures only six times this season – in contrast to 11 last year – he has been a fixture as a starter.

Moran, who started every game last season as a freshman, has made 30 starts this season. He missed two games in January because of an ankle injury and could have missed more time, Hogan said.

“He wanted to be back on the floor,” Hogan said. “He’s been pretty banged up. I don’t know too many guys who would’ve played with that injury. That’s what Johnny’s all about. And I know every one of his teammates appreciate that about him.”