UNI beats Southern Illinois to set up clash with Drake
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ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The University of Northern Iowa withstood a late push by Southern Illinois University to come away with a 61-58 win in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday night.
With the victory, the Panthers move on to face in-state rival Drake in the semifinals for the first time in the history of the MVC tournament.
The No. 3 seed Salukis (17-15) beat sixth-seeded UNI (15-17) in both of the regular season meetings, and Southern Illinois had a 58-57 lead with 30.4 seconds remaining. Panther freshman AJ Green showed why he was named the MVC Freshman of the Year in the remaining seconds, as he hit a shot with 12 seconds to go to put the Panthers back in front, 59-58.
Spencer Haldeman, the co-Sixth-Man of the Year for the conference, closed out the game with two free throws with 4.8 seconds left and the Panthers walked away with a three-point victory.
Wyatt Lohaus was actually the top Panther scorer with 21 points, while Trae Berhow had 11 and Luke McDonnell finished with nine. Green only had six points after averaging 19 in the first two meetings against Southern Illinois and Haldeman had just four points, but their final scores each came when the Panthers needed them most.
At halftime it wasn't nearly as close, as Northern Iowa dominated the early going on the way to a 34-26 lead by the half. That lead would expand to 47-36 with 12:22 left in the second half, but the Salukis went on a run and whittled that lead down to just four points at 55-51 with five minutes left.
The offenses both stagnated for the next four minutes until Southern Illinois' Kavion Pippen hit a pair of free throw to make it a 57-55 UNI lead. Aaron Cook would give the Salukis their first lead of the half with a 3-pointer at the 30.4 second mark, but the Panthers would close out the win from there.
Pippen finished with a game-high 22 points for Southern Illinois, while Armon Fletcher had 14.
Northern Iowa now advances to the semifinals to face Drake, with the winner moving on to have a chance at an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers and Bulldogs split their regular-season meetings, with each team winning on their home court.
The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network starting at 5 p.m.
NORTHERN IOWA 61, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 58
At St. Louis, Mo.
N. IOWA (15-17) -- McDonnell 4-9 0-0 9, Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Berhow 4-8 0-0 11, Lohaus 8-18 4-4 21, Green 3-8 0-0 6, Dahl 3-6 2-3 8, Pickford 0-1 0-0 0, Haldeman 1-8 2-2 4. TOTALS 24-61 8-9 61.
S. ILLINOIS (17-15) -- Pippen 10-21 2-2 22, Fletcher 4-14 5-5 14, McGill 3-6 1-1 7, Cook 2-6 0-0 5, Lloyd 2-6 0-2 5, Bol 1-2 0-0 2, Beane 1-5 0-0 3, Bartley 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 23-62 8-10 58.
Halftime--N. Iowa 34-26. 3-Point Goals--N. Iowa 5-17 (Berhow 3-4, McDonnell 1-2, Lohaus 1-4, Brown 0-1, Green 0-2, Haldeman 0-4), S. Illinois 4-16 (Beane 1-2, Cook 1-3, Fletcher 1-4, Lloyd 1-4, McGill 0-1, Bartley 0-2). Fouled Out--McGill. Rebounds--N. Iowa 35 (Dahl, McDonnell 7), S. Illinois 35 (Pippen 11). Assists--N. Iowa 11 (Brown, Pickford, Lohaus, Green, Haldeman 2), S. Illinois 9 (Fletcher, Cook 3). Total Fouls--N. Iowa 17, S. Illinois 12. Technicals--McGill.