Northern Iowa is living up to the hype.

The Panthers were considered the Missouri Valley’s best team at the start of the basketball season and have done little to stain that status, going 9-1. That includes victories over teams from the Big Ten (Iowa), Big 12 (Iowa State) and Atlantic Coast (Boston College).

Northern Iowa will bring an eight-game winning streak to Qwest Center Omaha at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday to begin Valley play against Creighton. The Panthers’ latest win came two days before Christmas when they hammered Wyoming 72-54.

“They are a Top 25 team,’’ Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. “They’ve got the pieces you need — two post players, a point guard to run it and some wings to shoot the ball.’’

The post players are 7-foot Jordan Eglseder and 6-8 Adam Koch. The point guard is Kwadzo Ahelegbe, while the wing players are Johnny Moran and Ali Farokhmanesh. All were starters on Northern Iowa’s team that won 23 games last season and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

In fact, Northern Iowa lost just one key contributor to last season’s success, which has led to the high expectations. The veteran crew has been augmented by several talented newcomers, including guard Marc Sonnen, who ranks sixth on the team in scoring and has added to the perimeter firepower.

Northern Iowa’s experience paid off early, coach Ben Jacobson said.

“In our first five games, we found ways to win a couple of close ones,’’ Jacobson said. “I didn’t feel like we had practiced at a really high level, and we hadn’t played real consistent or solid basketball. But we had enough experience that early on, we had guys make good plays or make shots that helped us win games.

“The last two weeks, we’ve played better. It’s given our guys a lot more confidence, and they just have more of a bounce in their step right now. They’re feeling better about the way we’re defending and some of the plays we’re making.’’

Northern Iowa opened its season with a win at Denver, then lost to DePaul in the opening game of the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. The Panthers bounced back to post a six-point win over East Carolina before beating Boston College by 12.

Their six wins since returning to the mainland have featured rock-solid defense that has limited opponents to an average of 57.7 points. They held North Dakota to 41 points, Northern Illinois to 45 and Iowa to 50.

“Coming into the year, I wasn’t sure how we would start even though we had a number of guys back,’’ Jacobson said. “I had talked to a number of coaches, and they all told me that even though we had guys back, this was a different team.

“They told me we were going to have to build it again, and I think we went through that a lot in our early practices and our first few games. We’re starting to make some improvements, but we still have a long way to go. But their approach has been good.’’

Ahelegbe and Koch were preseason All-Valley picks, and they have combined to average 27.1 points. Eglseder, perhaps the most dominant big man in the league, is averaging 12.8 points and 8.0 rebounds. The sharpshooting Farokhmanesh leads the team with 24 baskets from 3-point range while averaging 10.4 points.

Moran, who averaged 8.4 points as a freshman starter, has experienced some shaky moments. He’s averaging 4.4 points and is shooting 27.4 percent from the field and 21.6 percent from 3-point range.

Sonnen has stepped in to shoot 50 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from 3-point range while playing an average of 10.8 minutes per game.

Tuesday’s game will match the teams picked 1-2 in the Valley’s preseason poll. It has been 20 seasons since the teams picked atop the poll have faced off in the opening conference game.

Creighton has struggled, going 5-6 while playing one of the conference’s toughest nonleague schedules.

If the Bluejays are in need of an example of how things can turn around, they need only to look at the Panthers. Northern Iowa went 6-5 in nonconference play last season, then lost its Valley opener at home.

Since then, the Panthers are 26-5. They won 11 games in a row at one point, and a win Tuesday would run their current streak to nine.

“It was a little frustrating early this season,’’ Jacobson said. “It’s never been about their effort. They were tuned in and working hard, but we just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be. That has picked up the last three weeks, and that’s encouraging.’’

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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