CEDAR FALLS - Ben Jacobson told his University of Northern Iowa basketball team to stay out of the gym and weight room for two weeks after the team's season-ending loss to Purdue in the NCAA tournament two weeks ago.

Three days after the head coach issued that message, the players were back on the court.

"Kwadzo (Ahelegbe) came into the office and I said, 'I told you guys not to go to the gym,'" Jacobson said. "He said, 'Coach, we're bored. We want to be in the gym.'"

Despite Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships on their resume this season, the Panthers are eager for more.

The 61-56 loss to Big Ten tournament champion Purdue sticks in their craw.

"That loss is going to fuel us every day we're working out," Ahelegbe said. "We want to get back to that game."

Jacobson believes that's a positive for a team that won 23 games.

"It's easy for them individually and as a group to pick out a play or two from that game, and it's going to bother them," he said. "When you're on that stage and have an opportunity to advance, the sting of that doesn't go away."

With nine of its top 10 players returning next season, including its starting five, UNI's expectations will be as lofty as they've been since the 2005-06 season when the Panthers were coming off two straight NCAA appearances.

However, in addition to the pair of MVC titles, this group has more depth and versatility.

In addition to the nine returnees, the Panthers have three redshirts - Anthony James, Jake Koch, Austin Pehl - and a pair of incoming freshmen - Marc Sonnen and Matt Morrison - vying for minutes.

Jacobson also didn't rule out the possibility of signing a player this spring, particularly a guard that brings size and strength to match up with the league's taller backcourt players.

"What I'm excited about is to see how much better those nine get and to see how hard the redshirts and new guys are going to fight to be in the mix," Jacobson said. "I'm not interested in those guys taking the approach, 'Well, we got everyone back so I'll sit back.'

"They better be willing and up to fighting. That's how this team this past year approached things, and that's how roles were developed."

With the flexibility Jacobson has with his roster, he said it's important he and the staff work this spring and summer to find alternative solutions to be successful.

"A lot of these guys were new to the league, and it was the first time teams saw these guys individually and as a team," he said. "It's the same group next year for the most part, and they've played against us two or three times. They have their ideas of how to stop what we're doing.

"The challenge for myself and the staff is to study ways to put this group in position to have success and use our versatility the best way we can individually and as a group."

UNI will likely be chosen to finish first or second behind Creighton in the Valley's preseason poll in October. The last time the Panthers were pegged for the top spot, they finished in a tie for fifth.

Jacobson isn't concerned how his program handles that bull's-eye.

"These guys are motivated to be really good internally," he said. "You go up and down our roster, they want to be good. When guys are driven internally, they're going to get better.

"If our guys walked around like we accomplished a bunch and talked like, 'Hey, we're going to be at the top of the league next year,' I'd be concerned.

"They are 180 degrees from that. They just want to get better."

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