The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Northern Iowa
No. rv/22 Men's Basketball falls 75-72 to Northern Iowa in NCAA First Round
03.19.2016 | Men's Basketball
UNI hits half-court shot at the buzzer to defeat the Longhorns.
OKLAHOMA CITY – A half-court shot is what the 2015-16 season came down to for the Texas Longhorns in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at Chesapeake Arena. After trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half and battling back to take the lead in the second, No. rv/22 Texas fell to Northern Iowa 75-72, when Paul Jesperson hit a half-court shot as time expired. UT's Isaiah Taylor tied the game up on a drive to the basket with 2.7 seconds remaining.
Texas (20-13) got a stellar showing from Taylor as he poured in 22 points, including a career-high three 3-pointers. He was 9-of-11 at the free-throw line and dished out six assists. UNI (23-12) had five players score in double digits led by Wes Washpun with 17.
The game came down to the wire after the Longhorns built a six-point lead (53-47) with 12:32 remaining following a Kerwin Roach Jr. putback. UNI answered back to take a 62-60 advantage after a pair of Matt Bohannon free throws at the 8:13 mark, and neither team led by more than four points the rest of the night.
Seniors Javan Felix, Demarcus Holland, Prince Ibeh, Connor Lammert and Cameron Ridley played in their final game for the Longhorns and all played a role at some point in the game. Ibeh's defense played a particularly key role during a second-half run, keeping the Panthers away from the basket with a series of blocks.
In the first half, Texas jumped out to an early lead scoring the first seven points of the contest. Northern Iowa settled down and countered with a significant run of its own to build a 16-point lead (33-17) with 6:41 left following a Washpun layup. The Horns answered with an 11-5 spurt over the final 3:10 of the first half, and UNI held a 44-36 cushion at the break.
After the Panthers shot 59.1 percent in the first half, the Longhorns were able to limit UNI to only a 38.1 shooting percentage in the second half. Texas grabbed 11 offensive rebounds that helped lead to 12 second chance points for the Longhorns. Texas also took advantage of UNI's mistakes scoring 16 points off 10 turnovers.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
(No. 11 seed) Northern Iowa 75, #rv/22 (No. 6 seed) Texas 72
March 18, 2016
NCAA Tournament First Round
Chesapeake Arena (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
Team Notes
Texas fell to 35-36 all-time in 33 NCAA Tournament appearances.
UT trailed by as much as 16 points (33-17) with 6:41 remaining in the first half. The Horns used an 11-5 run over the final 3:10 of the first half to close the deficit to 44-36 at the break.
The Longhorns held UNI to 31 points on 38.1% FG shooting in the second half, including a 3-of-11 (.273) mark from three-point range.
Texas posted a 16-7 advantage in points off turnovers, 12-4 in second-chance points and 23-13 in bench scoring.
Eric Davis Jr.
Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the 14th time this year (33 games)
Reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the 20th time this year and 63rd time in his career (132 games)
Finished his collegiate career with 1,249 points (No. 21 on the UT career scoring list just below Isaiah Taylor)
Finished his collegiate career ranked No. 8 on the UT career assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.69 (366 assists, 217 turnovers)
Finished his collegiate career ranked No. 10 on the UT career assist list with 366
Tied his season high in rebounds (6) in 23 minutes
His 135 games played ranks in a tie for No. 7 on the UT career list (tied with Prince Ibeh)
Had 3 blocked shots and finished his collegiate career with 212 blocks (No. 4 on the UT career blocked shot list)
His 135 games played ranks in a tie for No. 7 on the UT career list (tied with Demarcus Holland)
His 136 games played ranks in a tie for No. 4 on the UT career list
Topped the 20-point mark (game-high 22 points) for the seventh time this year and 15th time in his career (92 games)
Reached double figures in scoring for the 25th time this season and 69th time in his career
Set a career high for 3-pointers made (3-4)
Moved into the No. 20 spot on the UT career scoring list with 1,254 points
Moved into the No. 7 spot on the UT career assist list with 415
His 2.69 assist-to-turnover ratio this year (164 assists, 61 turnovers) is the third-best single-season mark in UT history
His 2.00 assist-to-turnover ratio in his career (415 assists, 207 turnovers) ranks No. 4 on the UT career list
