N. Iowa shocks top overall seed Kansas
March 20, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—Ali Farokhmanesh hit another big 3-pointer with 34 secondsleft and Northern Iowa pulled off the biggest upset in the NCAA tournament,beating top overall seed Kansas 69-67 in the second round on Saturday.
Northern Iowa (30-4) won the tempo tug-of-war, grounding the high-flyingJayhawks with in-their-jersey defense, then withstood a furious rally to becomethe first team to beat a No. 1 seed in the second round since UAB and Alabamadid it to Kentucky and Stanford in 2004.
The ninth-seeded Panthers led early and made just enough plays late to pulloff the biggest win in their history.
Kansas (33-3) trailed nearly the entire game, finally pulling close in theclosing minutes behind its fullcourt pressure. The Jayhawks never made it allthe way back, though, bowing out early in what was supposed to be another titlerun.