CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Automotive fate has me writing from my Cedar Falls Days Inn room in an unplanned two-day stay in the Cedar Valley (I think that’s what they call it).

My car is in a bad way. It appeared I have a frozen right rear rim or wheel base, given the tire smoke billowing from my donut when I made the two-mile trek from the McLeod Center to this hotel. I pray it’s not costly as it could affect future Sycamore travel, that’s no lie.

There are better places in the Valley to have been stuck overnight with car trouble … and not many worse. Carbondale is the only locale that jumps to mind that’s more remote.

Anyway, ISU produced a surprise on Sunday. What does it mean?

On the positive side, there was plenty. For starters, ISU was much more obviously intense. Players slapped the floor, teammates yelled at one another when they did something well, there was emotion. Sometimes emotion is just sound and fury signifying nothing, but given how quiet and emotion-less the Sycamores had been playing, it meant a lot.

ISU rebounded better. It shared the ball better. It had what turned out to be a better rotation coming off the bench.

Carl Richard was not only a revelation in the obvious statisical ways, but he gave ISU a much-needed energy shot coming off the bench, something the team has not had all season.

Richard’s production was huge. He’s been the poster child of the freshmen who have had trouble adapting to this level. He’s attempted shots he made at Richards High School, but can’t make here, and, he’s been playing out of position. Richard seemed to finally relax in his role on Sunday and he thrived. More so than his points, his rebounds were absolutely crucial.

Jay Tunnell was solid too, even gesturing disappovingly at Brant Leitnaker when Leitnaker was out of position. The charge Tunnell took with 12 seconds to go was huge, even if UNI ultimately tied it anyway.

And it goes without saying that without Harry Marshall, ISU would not have won Sunday’s game. Marshall gets a bit excited and took some out of control shots, but he also made some big shots, especially when he scored 9 of 10 points late in regulation to keep ISU afloat.

So what does it mean? It’s a road win, which is big. It shows the rest of the conference ISU isn’t God awful, which is good for perception. But most of all, it proved to the Sycamores themselves that they have the ability to be successful if they just concentrate on keeping each other involved and playing a bit more physical.

As much as all teams are judged by the court of public opinion, ISU first had to win a case in the court of its own doubts. That’s what could be the biggest aspect of the win.

Carry over? Who knows? Let’s be brutally honest — the ISU-UNI matchup could very well have been round one of three between a pair of MVC Tournament play-in teams, so let’s not go crazy.

Creighton is tough and a victory will be difficult Wednesday against the league favorites, even at home, even with ISU having beaten Creighton two years running at Hulman Center.

Other stuff
[] Reaction at the McLeod Center was muted after ISU’s double overtime win, but rest assured that from UNI’s perspective, the loss was about as embarrassing as it gets. ISU is viewed dismissively around the rest of league, given a 2-9 start, who can blame anyone?

However those in the know have taken note of ISU’s schedule. The Sycamores DID play the second-toughest nonconference schedule by RPI.

Important? I guess, though tread lightly when it comes to making that much out of it. The bottom line is ISU could’ve won a few of those close games, but the main reason they lost was due to problems of their own making — lack of effort on the boards, turnovers, and just a general lack of panache.

[] ISU’s throwbacks are pretty sharp. There’s a small accent of black in the shorts that makes the Columbia blue stand out. Of course, the shorts are probably three times longer than the real 1979 thing, when did basketball shorts get below the knee? I so rarely pay any attention to the sartorial part of my beat.

Kevin McKenna told me a long time ago that ISU actually had the option to go with 1979-vintage short shorts, but the players kiboshed that one real quick.

There is no home white version of the throwbacks, so to wear them at Hulman Center will require coordination with league foes and the league itself. It might be tough to wear them against a team that has blue road uniforms, such as Creighton on Wednesday, but no one in the Valley has the Columbia blue shade of ISU’s throwbacks, so perhaps it won’t be as big a problem as one might think.

Evansville comes to Hulman Center next Sunday. Sleeves vs. 1979? Make this happen, Purple Aces.

As for McKenna, he’s superstitious about these types of things, so since ISU won in their throwback debut, expect him to try and go to them as much as possible. McKenna also donned the sweater vest today, so perhaps that will become more of a staple too.

[] UNI’s Kwadzo Ahelegbe is slick. He’s one of the most slippery guards I’ve seen in a while, seemingly serpentining through ISU’s zone at will to drive the lane, repeatedly converting little 5-to-10 foot leaners. UNI’s new guards — Ali Farokhmanesh and Johnny Moran — both showed promising flashes too.

What was surprising was how ineffective UNI big man Jordan Eglseder was. After Eglseder missed a chippy and had a couple of bad turnovers early in the second half, UNI coach Ben Jacobson banished him to the bench until foul trouble compelled him to bring him back late in double overtime. This is UNI’s leading scorer, folks. If he can’t be more consistent, the Panthers are in trouble.

UNI is not strong defensively and its going to cost them in the league. There was a play that turned out to be inconsequential in regulation when Aaron Carter blew by Lucas O’Rear and Farokhmanesh didn’t help defensively as Carter converted one of the easiest lay-ups you’ll ever see in the final minute of a game. Surprisingly, UNI also rebounded poorly. Only its six team rebounds made the rebounding margin with ISU close.

UNI will win some games because its guards will shoot them to some victories as they nearly did Sunday, but the Panthers are play-in material at present.