OKLAHOMA CiITY — Northern Iowa players were crestfallen after seeing what seemed a certain trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 slip away in a little over half a minute.
The 11th-seeded Panthers took a 12-point lead on free throws with 44 seconds remaining, and still led by 12 as the clocked ticked below 35 seconds. But they couldn't hold on and eventually bowed to No. 3 Texas A&M 92-88 in double overtime. It was the largest deficit overcome in the last minute of a college basketball game, according to David Worlock of the NCAA.
The team’s three senior leaders took the loss in their final game as collegians the hardest.
Guard Matt Bohannon sobbed openly, his face red from anguish. Bohannon suffered an undisclosed injury late in the game and battled to get back in for the overtime.
Guard Paul Jesperson, the hero in a tournament-opening, buzzer-beating win against Texas, had his head down, his chin buried in his hands.
Guard Wes Washpun, who fouled out early in the first overtime, stared straight ahead, seemingly in shock.
Coach Ben Jacobson was all business, barely looking like he had broken a sweat, his tie only slightly askew. He was the first to address the stunning collapse.
"A crazy 30 seconds that we aren’t going to be able to ever have an answer for, nor do we need one,” Jacobson said. "It just happened to go that way. But everything that happened to get to that point, these are three of the finest young men and three of the best guys we’ve ever had come through our program. I’m extremely proud of them.
"I congratulate Texas A&M for staying in there long enough. If they made just one small mistake in that last 30 seconds, anything, we would have still got out of there."
Washpun tried to explain how the game frittered from the Panthers and fell to the Aggies.
"They just turned up the pressure a little bit,” he said. "Bo was out of the game, he’s usually the one who inbounds the ball for us. Credit to Texas A&M for turning up the pressure and making the plays when they had to.”
The injury to Bohannon late in regulation was certainly a factor.
“It wasn’t easy,’ he said. "It wasn’t what we wanted. It was kind of a freak thing. I came down and didn’t feel right when I got up. I tried to get back in as soon as I could but it wasn’t feeling right. I tried it in overtime and double overtime but didn’t have much. I wish I could have been out there with my guys and taken care of things in regulation.”
Jesperson grudgingly relived the closing minute of the second half.
“I felt like we were a minute away from dancing,” he said. "Texas A&M made some great individual plays. We weren’t able to make a few that we needed to make.”
Bohannon tried to encapsulate the range of feelings he and his teammates had been through over a whirlwind 48 hours.
“That’s the NCAA tournament," he said. "That’s what happens. If Paul’s shot doesn’t go in a couple days ago, we go to overtime and don’t know what happens. It’s a wide range of emotions. We were 30 seconds away from getting one step closer to our goals."
The Panthers played all but one possession of both overtimes without Washpun, their point guard.
“Wes is the guy we’ve leaned on all year,” Jesperson said. “When he goes out like that, it presents a challenge. It’s been our deal all year. Different situations have popped up and we’ve had to figure out ways around them. Tonight was another one. We saw Bo go down and get hurt, we had to call on somebody else. Wes went out, we had to call on somebody else. I went out, they called on somebody else. That’s this program’s deal. That’s what this program is built on. Everybody’s going to step up to the challenge. No one is going to fear any situation“
Then Jesperson began to weep.
“I’m just thankful that coach gave me a chance to be a part of it.,“ he said.
With that, the players walked in unison from the dais and from their time representing Northern Iowa basketball.
GALLERY: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SECOND ROUND
