Moran, UNI shoot for record 15th straight win

During Northern Iowa's 14-game men's basketball winning streak, Johnny Moran has noticed an overriding trait.

"It's a very confident team," said Moran, a Jacobs graduate who is a sophomore guard for the Panthers (15-1). "The success we had last year has really helped this team. It's been awesome to be a part of."

With a win tonight at home against Indiana State, Moran and the Panthers will set the UNI school record with their 15th consecutive win.

For Moran, the wins have slowly helped him gain more confidence in his own game.

After making the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team last season for a UNI team that made the NCAA tournament, Moran has struggled with his shot this season, making only 30.5 percent of his field goals. From three-point range, Moran is shooting 24.7 percent.

"It's definitely been an off year for me shot-wise," said Moran, who has started all 50 games in his UNI career. "I have faith that it will come back, hopefully sooner rather than later."

In the past five games, starting with his season-high 15-point effort Jan. 1 against Evansville, Moran is shooting 41 percent from the field.

"My confidence just wasn't there (early in the season), but it's starting to come back," Moran said.

Moran said the fact that he has remained in the starting lineup through his early season struggles was a benefit.

"It was tough," he said. "I was still out there playing, though. My teammates and coaches still had confidence in me."

Moran, who is averaging 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, has taken the focus off of his shooting by putting more emphasis on other areas of his game.

"I had to help the team in other areas," Moran said. "I'm not the primary scorer. That's not my role. ... So I've focused on defense and rebounding and helping other guys get more involved."

On a team that ranks No. 4 in the nation in points allowed (56.3 a game), Moran leads the Panthers with 22 steals. But he also sees gains in more specific areas.

"Defense is one thing we concentrate a lot on here," Moran said. "I see (improvement) in help defense and how I guard a guy."

Youel among nation's best: North Central College senior wrestler Gabe Youel is ranked third among D-III wrestlers nationally this week at 184 pounds.

Youel, a Crystal Lake Central grad, was voted No. 3 in a ranking by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. A senior, Youel went 3-0 last weekend to help the Cardinals finish 1-1-1 at the NWCA/Cliff Keen Duals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. NCC's only loss was to top-ranked Augsburg.

For the season, Youel is 21-3 and is tied for the team lead with three victories by pin.

Burkle hits milestone: Crystal Lake South grad Alex Burkle became the 43rd player in NAIA St. Ambrose University's men's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points.

Burkle, a senior forward for the Bees, reached the 1,000-point mark with a basket at the 8:25 mark of the second half Jan. 2 in SAU's 82-78 double-overtime win against Waldorf. Burkle had 13 points in the game and is averaging 8.6 points and 3.2 rebounds a game this season for the Bees (11-7).

The victory also gave SAU coach Ray Shovlain his 500th career win at the Davenport, Iowa, school.

Hot shot at Knox: Sophomore guard Ben Wetherbee is the leading scorer this season for D-III Knox College.

A Woodstock grad, Wetherbee is averaging 13.1 points a game and also leads the team in three-pointers made (20), steals (15) and minutes played (30.9).

Wetherbee ranks among the top 15 in the Midwest Conference in four different statistical categories, including fifth in steals and free-throw percentage (87.5 percent).

Barry Bottino writes a weekly column and a blog about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at BarryOnCampus@hotmail.com and check out his On Campus column every Saturday in the Northwest Herald sports section.