CEDAR FALLS - When Ben Jacobson turned on his BlackBerry phone late Sunday afternoon, he had more than 100 messages congratulating him on the University of Northern Iowa basketball team's Missouri Valley Conference tournament title.

By Monday afternoon, the Panther head coach saw that number nearly triple.

"This is why (UNI) is a special place, because so many people care," Jacobson said.

UNI earned its fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the past six years with a 60-57 overtime victory over Illinois State.

Monday, with the MVC regular-season and tournament title trophies sitting on a table in his office, Jacobson reflected on what his club achieved in St. Louis with wins over Indiana State, Bradley and Illinois State in a 50-hour span.

"I felt like we played maybe as well as we played all year in the three games," he said.

"Our offense the first two games and in the first half against Illinois State was as good as it's been for five consecutive halves.

"Defensively, I thought we were terrific against Illinois State in the first half, and that positioned us to win that basketball game."

UNI had to overcome a 19-point second half by junior Osiris Eldridge.

"He's going to play in the NBA without question," Jacobson said.

In the end, UNI's team was better than Illinois State's individual.

Even though Kwadzo Ahelegbe averaged 19 points, five rebounds and three assists in the tournament, and Adam Koch registered nearly 16 points and six rebounds, UNI's depth won out as nine players logged 11 minutes or more in the championship game.

Guard Ali Farokhmanesh, who played only 14 minutes in Saturday's semifinal because of foul trouble, was fresh in Sunday's overtime and scored eight of UNI's 12 points in the last five minutes.

"The key is, any of eight players that are playing the majority of minutes right now can finish the game," Jacobson said. "It isn't depth in the middle of the game. Guys like Travis (Brown), Kerwin (Dunham) and Lucas (O'Rear) can finish at the end of the game.

"Any of those guys can make a play at any point to win a game."

Jacobson gave his team Monday and today off. The Panthers will practice three of the four days before Selection Sunday.

"I'd like to spend some time on our offense," Jacobson said. "I liked how we played, but there are some things we can definitely get better at. It's important we get a couple good, hard workouts in before Sunday."

At 5 p.m. Sunday, UNI will learn its opponent and destination for the NCAA Tournament. As of Monday night, most critics have the Panthers projected as a No. 12 or 13 seed.

Contact Matt Coss at (319) 291-1468 or matt.coss@wcfcourier.com