UNI’s Season Ends With Stunning Loss To Texas A&M

On the brink of celebrating their second trip to the Sweet 16 in school history, everything went all wrong so quickly for the UNI Panthers.

The No. 11 seed suffered a gut-wrenching setback in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to No. 3 seed Texas A&M, 92-88, in double-overtime in Oklahoma City Sunday night (March 20, 2016).

The Panthers (23-13) blew a seemingly insurmountable 12-point lead after controlling the opening 39 minutes of the game. With 44 seconds remaining in regulation, Jeremy Morgan hit two free throws, giving UNI a 69-57 advantage.

Matt Bohannon, however, injured his knee and was forced to leave the game. With the Panthers' inbound passer off the court, Texas A&M switched to a press defense and forced UNI to commit four turnovers in the final 44 seconds. The Aggies then proceeded to outscore the Panthers 14-2 during that stretch to force overtime, with Admon Gilder's steal and layup at the 1.9-second mark tying the game at 71-71.

According to a tweet later sent by NCAA officials on twitter, Texas A&M's 12-point rally is the largest last-minute comeback in college basketball history.

The Panthers led most of the first overtime, but Alex Caruso's jumper with six seconds left tied the game at 83-all. Paul Jesperson, the hero of Friday night's victory over Texas, had a shot to win the game just ahead of the buzzer, but missed a 3-point attempt.

UNI took an 84-83 edge with 3:27 left in the second overtime on a Jeremy Morgan free throw, but it was the last time the Panthers would lead. The Aggies (28-8) closed out the game at the free throw line and earned their third trip to the Sweet 16 in school history, the first since 2007.

Morgan scored a career-high 36 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for UNI, while Klint Carlson added 17. Carlson scored most of those points during a personal 10-0 run in the middle of second half.

Caruso tallied 25 points to lead three Texas A&M players in double figures. Daniel House scored all 22 of his points in the second half and overtime, while Jalen Jones finished with 16.

The Panthers led 32-22 at halftime and withstood a pair of Texas A&M runs in the second half, before building their 69-57 lead.