UNI steadfast in crucial moments, led to Texas A&M matchup

OKLAHOMA CITY — There was a four-minute stretch in the second half of Friday night's game between Northern Iowa and Texas that got swallowed by Paul Jesperson's half-court buzzer-beater that sent the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament's second round.

Senior guard and team go-to player Wes Washpun had committed his fourth personal foul, and was forced to the bench with 9:28 to go in the game while his team trailed by two. For the next 3:56, UNI's season hung in the balance.

Dig a hole with the team's best player unavailable, and that was it. Hold serve, and there was still a chance. Fortunately for the Panthers, seniors Matt Bohannon and Jesperson, junior Jeremy Morgan and sophomores Klint Carlson and Wyatt Lohaus did more than just keep it level.

They came together and surged forward, taking the lead by as much as four before Washpun came back in. It wasn't as memorable or highlight-reel worthy as Jesperson's game-winner, but it made the shot possible.

'Obviously we would've loved to have Wes in the game, but when times like that come, we've just got to find ways to step up. Wes has been leading us the whole season, and he showed us what to do,' Carlson said. 'We have trust in everybody on the team. We know when Wes goes out, Jeremy can defend the player (he had) as well. It's just having trust in each other is what it comes down to, really.'

Without Washpun on the floor, UNI had floundered in some of these situations earlier in the season.

As the year has gone on and more players have seen success, it's made those moments less stressful. Lohaus, for example had the low point of his season in a very similar situation at Hawaii. Instead on Friday, Lohaus ran the offense smoothly, and made crisp, under-control passes.

But the guy who stepped up most clearly was Bohannon, who hadn't had a great night up to that point. He laughed that 'I wasn't hitting many shots yesterday, and that kind of frustrated me, so I knew I had to find a way to score and help the team out in another way.'

That he did.

The Linn-Mar grad made a perfect cut and used a well-timed pass from Morgan for a layup. The next possession, he drove the lane and got to the free throw line. He kept everyone calm and focused. He led. Morgan said, 'Bo did a great job keeping us all together and keeping us aggressive and in that mind-set.'

UNI hadn't found much rhythm offensively to that point in the second half, and did so in one of the most crucial times of the game.

'(We) just (needed) anything to get us going,' Bohannon said. 'They did a good job taking some of the stuff away from the first half that was working well for us, so we just needed a guy to step up, and that's how it's worked all season. The next man in line was confident and stayed ready.'

The Panthers now go from the next man in line to the next game in line, against No. 3-seed Texas A&M at approximately 6:45 p.m. on Sunday on truTV.

They have to shake off the remnants of the epic buzzer-beater from Jesperson and save reliving that moment endlessly until the season is over. If they don't, it'll be that much harder to stay focused in stretches like those four minutes against Texas.

Luckily for UNI, they've been in this situation before, and have their own guidelines to follow.

'I think the best thing that could've happened for this situation was the Wichita State game, the way it happened in the semifinals (at the MVC Tournament),' said Coach Jacobson. 'To have to come back and beat a team (who) we know how good they are; to do that in the fashion we did in overtime, we really celebrated that in the locker room. We let that go all the rest of that evening and just kind of rode that wave and had to come back on short notice and play a good Evansville team. That experience is great for what's going on right now.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com