Caption:OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - MARCH 20: Jalen Jones #12 of the Texas A&M Aggies shoots the ball over Paul Jesperson #4 of the Northern Iowa Panthers during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena on March 20, 2016 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Just two days after defeating the Texas Longhorns 75-72 thanks to a buzzer-beating, half-court shot from Paul Jesperson, the Northern Iowa Panthers suffered a crushing 92-88 double-overtime defeat against the Texas A&M Aggies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
The Aggies won in what was undoubtedly one of the greatest (but also most horrifying) comebacks in the history of March Madness, and perhaps even in the history of college basketball. The game was aired on TruTV, however, so fortunately for the Panthers, very few people probably saw it.
With 44.3 seconds left in the game, the Panthers’ Jeremy Morgan made two free throws to give Northern Iowa a 69-57 lead over Texas A&M. WIth 36 seconds remaining, the Aggies’ Alex Caruso missed a three-pointer. The Panthers were believed by many to be the sure winners in the final seconds.
However, the Aggies made an extraordinarily quick comeback. The Panthers, whose usual inbounds passer had just been forced out due to a leg injury, then threw the ball away, which led to a layup for the Aggies. The Panthers then threw the ball away again, which led to an A&M dunk. The Panthers then turned over the ball a third time. The referees reviewed the clock for several minutes, and then Texas A&M made a three-pointer to score nine total points in a span of 14.4 seconds.
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Northern Iowa then successfully completed an inbounds pass to score a breakaway dunk. The referees again messed up the clock, which led to several more minutes of delays. Then A&M’s Alex Caruso drove the entire court for a layup, was fouled, and made the free throw to put A&M within two with 11.8 seconds left to go.
Finally, the Panthers’ Wes Washpun got trapped in the corner and threw the ball away. The Aggies intercepted Washpun’s pass, and and Gilder made another layup to tie the game. Northern Iowa finally attempted a half-court shot, but missed, thus forcing overtime.
To recap, Northern Iowa failed to execute an inbounds play four total times in just 30 seconds, while Texas A&M scored 14 points in a 32-second span. Back in December, Canisius tied an NCAA record by coming back from 11 points down in the last minute to beat Louisiana-Monroe. Texas A&M bested that mark by one.
Morgan scored a game-high 36 points for the Panthers. With the win, the Aggies have now advanced to the Sweet 16 and will next face second-seeded Oklahoma in Anaheim, California.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – MARCH 20: Jalen Jones #12 of the Texas A&M Aggies shoots the ball over Paul Jesperson #4 of the Northern Iowa Panthers during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena on March 20, 2016 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
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