Austin Phyfe

CEDAR FALLS — Austin Phyfe had 17 points, 18 rebounds and five assists to help lift Northern Iowa to a 64-52 win over Southern Illinois on Sunday, the Panthers’ 15th consecutive home-court victory.

UNI (23-5, 12-4) has a one-game lead over Loyola in the Missouri Valley Conference with two games remaining. Southern Illinois (16-13, 10-6) dropped into a tie for third with Bradley.

Isaiah Brown added 15 points for Northern Iowa.

Southern Illinois led 34-26 at halftime but scored a season-low 18 points in the second half when Northern Iowa used a 20-0 run to take control at 60-43 with four minutes left.

Barret Benson had 11 points for the Salukis (16-13, 10-6) as did Eric McGill.

UNI 64, Southern Illinois 52

At Cedar Falls

S. ILLINOIS (16-13) — Domask 2-7 0-0 4, Benson 4-7 2-5 11, Jones 4-10 1-3 10, McGill 4-13 2-4 11, Suggs 2-5 2-2 7, Francois 3-4 0-0 9, T.Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Gooch 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremic 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19-46 7-14 52.

N. IOWA (23-5) — Phyfe 7-10 3-4 17, Berhow 1-7 0-0 3, I.Brown 6-12 2-3 15, Green 2-12 4-5 9, Haldeman 3-9 0-0 9, Pickford 3-8 0-1 6, Dahl 1-1 0-0 2, Kimmons 1-2 0-0 3. TOTALS 24-61 9-13 64.

Halftime–S. Illinois 34-26. 3-Point Goals–S. Illinois 7-16 (Francois 3-4, Benson 1-2, Suggs 1-2, Jones 1-3, McGill 1-3, Domask 0-2), UNI 7-20 (Haldeman 3-8, Kimmons 1-1, I.Brown 1-3, Berhow 1-4, Green 1-4). Rebounds–S. Illinois 19 (Domask 8), UNI 41 (Phyfe 18). Assists–S. Illinois 6 (McGill 4), UNI 11 (Phyfe 5). Total Fouls–S. Illinois 13, UNI 12. A–6,497 (6,650).