Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It holds history for the Northern Iowa Panthers basketball team. In 2010 it was in Oklahoma City where the Panthers took down No. 1 seeded Kansas, where they entered the realm of the Sweet Sixteen.

This year they were back in Oklahoma City as a No. 11 seed and they faced No. 6 Texas on Friday.

With an arena swathed in shades of purple and shades of burnt orange, Texas won the toss up, but quickly lost their first possession. Despite missing their first scoring opportunity, Texas scored the first points of the game.

Within the first few minutes, the Panthers were down by a solid seven points. But it's not like they've been down in the dumps before and have arisen. Take a look at the Wichita State game at the Missouri Valley Conference: there was a mere six minutes left in the half before the Panthers were even on the board.

Against the Longhorns it seemed to take the Panthers a while to warm up to their opponent and to get the ball in the hoop. See, their problem wasn't getting to the hoop. It was getting it IN the hoop.

The Panthers knew, going into this, that it would be a tough game. They knew they would have to work for what they wanted and not let up. Once they got in the groove, they began to light up the court. (And, I will say, once they were lighting it up, it was really difficult to NOT cheer from Press Row. I'll just say, the lady behind me was loud enough to cheer for me, and I still fist pumped/mumbled encouragement when something good happened/was about the happen.)

In the first half the Panthers were working the ball up and down the court and the recurring swish of the net, oh how sweet the sound. And when they weren't swishing it, they were shooting free throws or swiping the ball from the Longhorn's hands. And not even the time outs phased the Panthers.

But where the game is decided for the Panthers is at the half. In past games they would have a stellar first half, only to lose it in the second. The KEY for the Panthers' First Round NCAA game would be their second half. And, right away it wasn't looking good with a missed shot from Wes Washpun and a turnover by Bennett Koch.

Early on in the second half, particularly important UNI players (Washpun, Morgan, and Lohaus) had three fouls.

Suddenly it was 47 to 46, Panthers up by one. The Texas fans got louder and Panthers needed to find their groove again.

Wes Washpun went up for a dunk, but was swatted down. After getting helped up, he appeared a little thrown off. But he would get to shoot for two (and make them).

Down by five, with around 10 minutes left in the half, the Panthers started getting on the board, cutting the Longhorns' lead to one.

Washpun was dancing with fire as he got his fourth foul. But the score was neck and neck. And free throws, again, were EVERYTHING. Morgan also played with fire, getting a fourth foul with an even 8 minutes left in the second half.

Matt Bohannon didn't disappoint on the scoring side and Morgan managed to steal and layup, shooting the Panthers up to a four point lead.

The Panthers got back at it, their rebound game strong again as they worked the court. But as the Panthers were rediscovering their beat, so was Texas.

Texas' big man, number 44 (Prince Ibeh), was feeling swatty, batting away the Waspun shot as well as a shot from Bohannon.

With time running out the score was tied and it was a battle I could barely watch.

36.5 seconds remained in regulation and Texas was up 70 to 69.

11.9 seconds and Wes Washpun was sent to the line with a UNI lead of 71 to 70. I was on Press Row shaking. The score went 72 to 70. Washpun missed his second shot.

Texas took the ball back down the court and scored, leaving a few mere seconds for the Panthers to do anything to break the tie before the game went into overtime.

Paul Jespersen put up a shot from half court, pretty much the Hail Mary of basketball shots.

There was a silence.

With a buzzer beater shot from Paul Jesperson, THE PANTHERS WIN!

"OH BABY I LOVE THIS TEAM!" yelled Gary Rima, calling the game for the radio.

Like a majority of the March Madness games so far, this was a nail biter, and since it's team I actually know, a team that I see on campus, this game shot my nerves.

Even so, it was a joy to watch the Panthers come out and show what they were about. It was a joy to watch them bring it all, leave it all on the court. It was a joy to have the Panther fans behind me and Panther bench before me, because you could really see how much they had worked this season to get to the NCAA court.