Twenty years after winning their first NCAA Tournament game on a late three pointer the U.N.I. Panthers did it again with a 69-66 victory over U.N.L.V. in the opening round of the Midwest Regional in Oklahoma City.

Ali Farokhmanesh drilled a three pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining to earn a hard fought victory. The Panthers rallied from an eight point deficit in the opening half and eventually led 58-49 in the second half before the Runnin’ Rebels roared back to tie the game in the final minute.

That set the stage for Farokhmanesh as the Panthers snapped a string of four straight first round losses. He says it felt good all the way through as he says Johnny Moran made a great ball fake to get him open and then made a great pass. Farokhmanesh says hitting the game winner is something you live for when you have played basketball this long. He says once the ball came to him, he was going to shoot it no matter what.

Farokhmanesh finished with a game-high 17 points, including five of nine from three point range.

U.N.I. coach Ben Jacobson says Farokmanesh hit big shots throughout the game and once they got settled in they played well. He had been concerned about a lengthy layoff since the end of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Jacobson says the experience is more important than the 10 day layoff. He says UNLV just got done playing, so they were in rhythm, but he says the experience of his team was important.

The Panthers improve to 29-4 and advance to Saturday’s second round, Jacobson says it’s like the conference tournament in some ways, as you have one day off and come back. He says when they play their game, they are pretty good.

The Panthers will play top ranked Kansas. The Jayhawks beat Lehigh 90-74.

Twenty years after their first NCAA Tournament victory the UNI Panthers will bid for their second one tonight in Oklahoma City when they play UNLV in the opening round of the Midwest Regional. Defense and guard play are critical in the tournament and the Panthers have been strong in both areas during a 28-4 season that included the Missouri Valley regular season and tournament titles.

UNI coach Ben Jacobson says the guards have been very good from the starters to the players off the bench, and he says they have enough versatility to play several of the guard positions. This is the Panthers fifth trip to the tournament in seven years and after four straight first round losses Jacobson says a win this evening would be a boost for the program.

He says people still talk about beating Missouri 20 years ago for the first win and Jacobsen says it is important to the program.

It has been 11 days since the Panthers last played and senior forward Adam Koch they hope to avoid a slow start. Koch says staying focused has been the key and they have done that all year.

It was a slow start that doomed the Panthers in a 61-56 loss to Purdue in last year’s opening round.

Senior center Jordan Egelseder says they need to come out ready to play, and most have had the experience of the tourney and need to be ready this year. Junior guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe believes the Panthers need to set the tone with a good first half and good defense.

UNLV is 25-8. Tip off is scheduled for 6:10p.m.

The UNI Panthers aren’t satisfied just to make the NCAA Tournament, they would like to advance to the second round. The Panthers are making their fifth appearance in the tournament in the last seven years and the four previous trips ended with five point losses in the opening round, including last season’s 61-56 loss to Purdue.

They hope to snap that streak on Thursday night when the meet UNLV in the first round of the Midwest regional in Oklahoma City. Junior guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe says they had the attitude after they won the conference tournament that they have some more things to do now. A victory over the Runnin’ Rebels would set up a likely meeting with top ranked Kansas in the second round. Senior forward Adam Koch says they are thinking about that just yet.

Koch says they have a tough game right away and you have to get past that one. good start would help. Last year against Purdue the Panthers fell behind early and senior guard Ali Farokhmanesh that experience will help them avoid a similar fate on Thursday. He says there are a lot of new people this year too, but he says getting a good start is important.

UNI is 28-4. UNLV is 25-8.

The U.N.I. women will enter their first NCAA Basketball Tournament as the #16 seed in the Kansas City Regional. The 17-15 Panthers face Nebraska — one of the tournament’s four #1 seeds — Sunday night in Minneapolis. Lizzie Boeck, U.N.I.’s junior center says playing the number one seed is “pretty intense” but they will do their best and it’s exciting.

Coach Tanya Warren admits its a difficult draw for U.N.I., but beating the 30-1 Cornhuskers is possible. Warren says it’s been proven in the tournament that anyone can beat someone, and they only have to be better than Nebraska on one day.

Nebraska received an at-large bid and first-ever #1 seed by winning the Big 12’s regular-season crown. The Panthers earned an automatic bid to the 64-team field by winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title. Guard Nicole Clausen says she and U.N.I.’s three other seniors are excited to be part of the Big Dance in their final season. Clausen says it’s a great way to go out after all the work they’ve put into it.

Senior guard/forward Danielle Wubbens says it’s still hard to believe what the Panthers accomplished, but making the NCAA Tourney is a reward for hardwork. She says it’s awesome to say they ended their senior year by going to the tournament.

Sunday’s game tips off at 6:06 pm from Williams Arena on the Minnesota campus. The game will be broadcast live by ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

By Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein

The Northwestern College women’s basketball team plays for the NAIA division two national championship in Sioux City this evening. The Red Raiders defeated Briair Cliff 91-83 in last night’s semifinal round.

Northwestern coach Earl Woudstra says it was a battle. The Red Raiders play Shawnee State in the title game. He says they have some talented individual players, but he says he likes their chances. Woudstra says the teams look a lot alike.

Northwestern is 30-5. Shawnee State is 29-6.

By Doug Broek KSOU Sioux Center

The Iowa Hawkeye women will play Rutgers and former coach C. Vivian Stringer in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Stanford, California on Saturday night. The Hawks earned an at-large bid after a late run helped them finish with a record of 19-13.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says she felt confident they were in, and it’s always fun to see your name come up. Bluder admits she was surprised they were given an eighth seed. She says there’s not a lot of difference from being seed 8 or 9, and she thought they might be a 10 seed.

Bluder says it was Stringer who put the Iowa program on the map in 12 years, taking the team to the Final Four. Bluder says Stringer has taken three teams to the Final Four and was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and has continued to win.

UNI’s opening round game against UNLV in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional will tipoff at 6-10, Iowa time, on Thursday night. The Panthers had to wait a week after winning the Missouri Valley Conference to find out who their opponent was.

Senior forward Adam Koch says it’s good to finally know who they are playing and where. Center Jordan Egelseder says they can now focus on an opponent in practice. Egelseder says he doesn’t know too much about UNLV right now, but it will be good to get into scouting them and preparing.

Senior guard Ali Farokhmanesh says they will try to learn as much as they can about the Runnin’ Rebels. He says they played Southern Illinois from the MVC and they were able to watch a little of one of the Rebels games the other night. Egelseder says playing in Oklahoma City will allow a lot of Panther fans to make the trip.

He says a lot of family and friends wanted either Milwaukee or Okalahoma and he believes a lot of them will be at the game.

By Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein

University of Iowa Athletic Director, Gary Barta, said today he met with basketball coach Todd Lickliter and told Lickliter he would no longer be the coach. Barta says it was the conclusion of a process where he monitors the team throughout the season and then sits down and does an evaluation at the end of the season.

Barta says Lickliter’s record over the last three years, the revenue from ticket sales, and the revenue from contributions and all other basketball-related revenues have declines in those three years. Iowa won just 10 games this season and lost a school-record 22 games. Iowa was 38-58 in Lickliter’s 3 seasons.

 Barta says Lickliter is due payments of $800,000 over the next three years and he will honor that contract.

Listen to Barta’s entire news conference here: Barta on Lickliter 36:00 MP3

The UNI Panthers open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Oklahoma City against UNLV. The Panthers are 28-4 after winning the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Runnin’ Rebels are 25-8 and lost to San Diego State in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference tournament.

UNI coach Ben Jacobson says he has not had a chance to see UNLV play, but knows they’ve had a good year and are in a good league. He says he is not surprised they were seeded ninth in the Midwest Regional. The Panthers had been projected to be as high as a sixth seed. Jacobson says he told his team they would probably get a 7 or 8 seed, and wouldn’t be surprised if it was a 6 or a 9 seed.

Jacobson says they like the Oklahoma City site because it will allow a lot of fans to make the trip. He says Milwaukee was the preference, but Oklahoma City was second and he says the fans have been great all year and a lot of them will probably make the trip. UNI lost to Purdue 61-56 in the opening round last year and Jacobson says that experience should help them.

Jacobson says they found out that the way they played a year ago was good enough, but they didn’t play that way until the second half. He says they have been focused and are looking forward to playing on Thursday.

The winner of Thursday’s game will likely play top ranked Kansas in the second round. The Jayhawks take on Lehigh and are the top seed in the tournament.

By Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein

The Iowa Hawkeyes made a late comeback to get within four points — but ended up losing to Michigan 59-52 in the Big Ten Tournament. Coach Todd Lickliter credited his team with not giving up after being beaten handily in their last two regular season games.

Lickliter says the team has been able to come back all year and says they played hard even though they were spent emotionally. Lickliter says there are some good players that don’t give up. Lickliter says if the players can hang tough, then they are going to be able to compete in the future. He says nobody wants to go through the losing, but he says they fought better then they have in the previous two years.

The loss dropped Iowa to 10-22, the most losses in school history. The loses have generated a lot of speculation about Lickliter’s future. He was asked on the postgame show if he will sit down with Athletic Director Gary Barta and discuss the future of the program.

“I have no idea,” Lickliter responded, “I just take care of me. so, that’s not on me, that’s on Gary Barta.” Cully Payne led Iowa with a career high 25 points, including five of 10 from three-point range.