Farokhmanesh Spells Victory for Northern Iowa

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Let it roll off the tongue: Ali Farokhmanesh.

Get used to it: Fuh-ROAK-muh-NESH.

Northern Iowa's senior guard hit a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining as the ninth-seeded Panthers knocked off No. 8 seed UNLV, 69-66, Thursday night in the first round of the Midwest Regional.

Tied at 66-66, Northern Iowa was struggling to get a shot off before the shot clock expired, when Farokhmanesh fired from about 25 feet away. UNLV was unable to get off a final shot.

The victory ended a five-game losing streak in NCAA tournament games for the Panthers, who upset No. 3 Missouri in the 1990 tournament.

Farokhmanesh led UNI with 17 points, hitting five of nine 3-pointers. Kwadzo Ahelegbe added 13 points, Adam Koch scored 11 and 7-footer Jordan Eglseder had nine and 10 rebounds.

Northern Iowa, the Missouri Valley regular-season and tournament champion, improved to 29-4.

The Runnin' Rebels (25-9) got 14 points off the bench from Matt Shaw, while Oscar Bellfield and Tre'Von Willis scored 13 each.

UNLV coach Lon Kruger had won six of his last seven NCAA first-round contests.

KEY ELEMENT: UNLV rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final eight minutes to pull even but never could overtake the Panthers. It was always playing from behind down the stretch. When they finally pulled even, the Rebels couldn't make the necessary defensive stop to force overtime. "When we had a chance to get that lead, UNLV did what they've done all year, did what they do best, got themselves right back in the basketball game," Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said.

GAME BALL GOES TO: Who else? Farokhmanesh. His 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range helped the Panthers hit 47.4 percent of their 3-pointers (9-for-19). None was bigger than the game-winning bomb.

HEART GOES OUT TO: Bellfield. UNLV's sophomore guard brought the Rebels even at 66-66 with a key 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining. He finished with 13 points.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Rebels should be runnin' again to the NCAA tournament next year. They lose only two seniors -- Steve Jones and Darris Santee, who combined for only two points against Northern Iowa. The Panthers advance to Saturday's second-round contest against Kansas.

QUOTABLE: "I had no idea the shot was coming to me. If it was your shot, you're going to take it. It wasn't planned or anything. I think we just went with it and it worked out." -- Farokhmanesh on his game-winning 3-pointer.

Contact FanHouse senior writer Brett McMurphy at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com