Northern Iowa upsets No. 1 North Carolina

CEDAR FALLS – It was over. Or at least it looked that way.

With 17:10 to play in its third game of the season, the Northern Iowa men's basketball team trailed No. 1 North Carolina, 50-34, on the heels of several easy baskets from the Tar Heels.

Coach Ben Jacobson called a timeout. He lit into his team. He asked for more. More passion, more focus and more execution.

And boy did the Panthers give him more. Over the next 12 minutes, UNI (2-1) turned a 16-point deficit into a five point lead, using a 29-8 run to send McLeod Center into a frenzy. A team and a program no stranger to monumental upsets got another one Saturday, but this time in front of 7,018 fans.

UNI took down UNC, 71-67, and left no doubt to the question of if they could make special things happen two years in a row.

'I don't really think it hit us until the buzzer sounded, to be honest,' said Wes Washpun, who was the unquestioned star of the game. 'We're fighters, man. Coach Jake called a quick timeout there, and just told us we were going to have to fight for this one. 'Go out there and give it everything you've got. Beat them to the loose balls. Block out as hard as you can.' We missed a lot of shots in the first half, and they started to go. We started to get stops and rebounds and the tide just swung.'

The court-storm by the UNI students and fans – maligned by many as an over-used form of celebration – couldn't be prevented. McLeod Center started buzzing in the first half on a ferocious Washpun dunk in the face of UNC's Nate Britt, as well as right before the half when Washpun sank a half-court shot at the buzzer.

The comeback in the second half meant a slow burn and heavy anticipation. Students stood nervously and fans shifted in their seats, anxious. The volume rose ever higher as the Panthers chipped away at the lead, but reached a fever pitch in the final seconds.

UNC had the ball, down three, with 0:29 left. True to UNI's reputation, the Panthers forced a turnover. As soon as Jeremy Morgan grabbed the ball and the clock hit 0:00, there was no holding back. It was a moment of elation and perspective.

'How many times do you have the No. 1 team in the nation come to your home floor? It's a pretty special feeling, and seeing everyone as excited as you and seeing little kids looking up to you,' said Matt Bohannon, who had 19 points. 'It takes you back and makes you understand (that) that was me and Wes when we were little. It takes you back and makes you appreciate the position you're in. It's a really cool feeling. We're really excited for what this team's capable of.'

UNI's driving force throughout the comeback and then to close out the win was the Cedar Rapids Washington grad in Washpun.

He finished with 21 points, eight assists, three rebounds and just two turnovers. His growth as a person and player was on center stage, and his coach and teammates fed off it.

'I'd tell you this is the best game he's played in his college career, yeah,' Jacobson said. 'When he was younger, he was mostly just doing. He knew what he was doing, he had thought about it, his stuff was more just use his power as a bigger guard and go make plays.

'But that last 10-12 minutes (Saturday), I think we saw where he combined (thought and action). He was working the clock, we were moving sideline to middle and he had complete control of all that. Then when it was time to do, to attack, that's as good as he's been. He's really grown into quite a player.'

Washpun gets lauded for his athleticism routinely, but he credited his performance against the Tar Heels to what's between his ears.

He just laughed when asked if this was his best game. That's for others to decide.

'I don't know. That's a tough question,' Washpun said about this being his best game. 'I was just trying to read the situations, to be honest. I have great shooters around me, great teammates; people that can catch and shoot better than almost anybody in the country.

'As a point guard, I feel like I always have to be thinking. If you just react, that's how mistakes are made. You have to read the situation, know time and score and know where guys are on the floor. I was always thinking.'

The absence of Linn-Mar grad and All-American Marcus Paige was evident for UNC, which got just 11 total points from its guards.

UNC Coach Roy Williams wasn't having any of that as an excuse, though. He was frank in his postgame comments about how the game played out. Six-foot-10 forward Kennedy Meeks had the Tar Heels' first eight points and then scored just two the rest of the way. His counterpart, 6-foot-9 Brice Johnson, had just 10. UNC was outscored, 24-22, in the paint and could never find the right adjustments to correct it.

'I'm very disappointed in me, more so than my team,' Williams said. 'We acted like a team that had not been coached very well out there.'

Jacobson wished Paige could've played, too, but that doesn't change how special Saturday was.

Just like beating No. 1 Kansas in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, this feeling never gets old. He soaked in the court-storm, the hugs and tears of joy just like everyone else.

Unexpected? Maybe. Underappreciated? Never.

'I suppose it would go without saying it's one of two or maybe one of three (top games). Thankfully this isn't the first one that's been this big,' Jacobson said. 'To have it happen on our home floor like this, with some guys changing roles and having some young guys, it could not be any bigger."